Many come up for sale at auctions (4)
I believe the answer is:
lots
'auctions' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with ownership as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'many come up for sale' is the wordplay.
'many' becomes 'l'.
'come up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'for' becomes 'to' (eg both can mean 'in the opinion of').
'sale' becomes 's' (this might be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'to' written backwards gives 'ot'.
'l'+'ot'+'s'='LOTS'
'at' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lots that I've seen before include "Items offered at auction" , "Great quantities" , "Many - items in a sale" , "A great deal" , "Large number or amount" .)