Made nest sound perhaps a strain to hear (5)
I believe the answer is:
lowed
'made' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lowed that I've seen before include "made noises like farm animals" , "Mooed" , "How Jersey communicated" .)