Lay out bird going after mushroom (11)
I believe the answer is:
spreadeagle
'lay out' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'bird going after mushroom' is the wordplay.
'bird' becomes 'eagle' (eagle is a type of bird).
'going after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'mushroom' becomes 'spread' (mushroom can mean to spread or grow).
'eagle' after 'spread' is 'SPREADEAGLE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spreadeagle that I've seen before include "Fully lay out" , "Utterly defeat" .)