A friend with short dress in sheikdom (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
abu dhabi
'short dress in sheikdom' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'a friend' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'friend' could be 'bud' (shortly for buddy) and 'bud' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abu dhabi that I've seen before include "Arab state" , "Persian Gulf emirate" , "Part of UAE" , "Asian capital" , "Capital city of UAE" .)