Ladder put away in poor state (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
run down
'poor state' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'ladder put away' is the wordplay.
'ladder' becomes 'run' (both can mean a tear in tights).
'put away' becomes 'down' (I've seen this in another clue).
'run'+'down'='RUN-DOWN'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for run down that I've seen before include "Sickly; resume" , "Summary; debilitated" , "pan?" , "brief review" , "Drained" .)