A womanly weapon (7)
I believe the answer is:
handbag
'weapon' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'a womanly' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for handbag that I've seen before include "'A ---?', famous Lady Bracknell line (Wilde)" , "Purse (in the American sense)" , "Woman's accessory" , "Grip" , "Woman's carrier" .)