Crossword Genius

Stop a letter giving settlement (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

colony

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'settlement' is the definition.
(I know that settlement can be written as colony)

'stop a letter' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'letter' could be 'y' (Y is a letter of the alphabet) and 'y' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'colon' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'giving' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for colony that I've seen before include "Overseas settlement" , "Group of organisms of the same type living together" , "New settlement abroad" , "Dependent settlement away from the homeland" , "Country controlled by another's settlers" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.
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