Crossword Genius

Queen to feel poorly and lose heart (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

quail

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

'lose heart' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'queen to feel poorly' is the wordplay.
'queen' becomes 'qu' (abbreviation for queen).
'to' says to put letters next to each other.
'feel poorly' becomes 'ail' (I've seen this in another clue).
'qu'+'ail'='QUAIL'

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for quail that I've seen before include "Small bird of the partridge family" , "Game bird - cower" , "Cower before the game-bird?" , "Flinch from small gamebird?" , "recoil with fear" .)

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