Heard refusal in remark from nag (5)
I believe the answer is:
neigh
'remark from nag' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with communicating as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'heard refusal' is the wordplay.
'heard' shows a homophone (sound like).
'refusal' becomes 'nay' (archaic word for 'no').
'nay' sounds like 'NEIGH'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for neigh that I've seen before include "Equine utterance" , "sound from the stable?" , "Horse's noise" , "The noise of a bay" , "Farmyard sound" .)