Sneer of German expert gaining edge (7)
I believe the answer is:
grimace
'sneer of' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'german expert gaining edge' is the wordplay.
'german' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'expert' becomes 'ace' (ace is a kind of expert).
'gaining' is an insertion indicator.
'edge' becomes 'rim' (rim is a kind of edge).
'g'+'ace'='gace'
'gace' going around 'rim' is 'GRIMACE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for grimace that I've seen before include "Nasty expression" , "Facial contortion expressive of pain or disgust" , "Contortion of face expressing pain" , "Expression of distaste" , "Expression of pain or disgust" .)