Advance or keep on retreating? (8)
I believe the answer is:
retainer
'advance' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'keep on retreating?' is the wordplay.
'keep on' becomes 'retain' (synonyms).
'retreating?' becomes 'er' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'retain'+'er'='RETAINER'
'or' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for retainer that I've seen before include "Family servant; barrister's fee" , "Fee paid to secure services" , "Eritrean (anag)" , "Old servant - preliminary fee" , "Fee paid to book professional services" .)