Recoiled from one single rat, escaping into courtyard? (7)
I believe the answer is:
quailed
'recoiled' is the definition.
('quail' can be a synonym of 'recoil')
'escaping into courtyard?' is the wordplay.
'escaping' becomes 'ile' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'into' indicates putting letters inside.
'courtyard?' becomes 'quad' (short for quadrangle).
'ile' placed into 'quad' is 'QUAILED'.
'from one single rat' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for quailed that I've seen before include "Flinched" , "Cowered" .)