Lack of moisture in canned sardines (8)
I believe the answer is:
aridness
'lack of moisture' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both states of affairs as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'canned sardines' is the wordplay.
'canned' indicates an anagram (canned can mean drunk).
'sardines' is an anagram of 'ARIDNESS'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aridness that I've seen before include "Dry quality" , "Drought" .)