Crossword Genius

Extinguish national spirit (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scotch

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

'spirit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'extinguish national' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'national' could be 'scot' (someone from Scotland) and 'scot' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ch' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for scotch that I've seen before include "A drink; crush" , "Prevent -- frustrate" , "Put the lid on" , "Finish off" , "Decisively put an end to" .)

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app