Surround nearly all men left in the grotto (7)

I believe the answer is:

enclave

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'surround' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'nearly all men left in the grotto' is the wordplay.
'nearly all men' becomes 'en' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'in the' indicates putting letters inside.
'grotto' becomes 'cave' (I've seen this in another clue).
'l' inserted inside 'cave' is 'clave'.
'en'+'clave'='ENCLAVE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for enclave that I've seen before include "Vatican for example" , "Enclosed territory, culturally distinct the one that surrounds it" , "Region wholly within another" , "pocket" , "Land wholly within foreign territory" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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