About forty days in a little garden, relaxing (9)
I believe the answer is:
relenting
'relaxing' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are present participle verbs, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'about forty days in a little garden' is the wordplay.
'about' becomes 're' ('re' means regarding or about).
'forty days' becomes 'lent' (Lent is a 40-day fast in Christianity).
'a little' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'garden' is 'g'.
're'+'lent'+'in'+'g'='RELENTING'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for relenting that I've seen before include "Becoming less severe" , "Giving way" , "Showing less severity" , "Letting up" , "Growing less severe" .)