After hostile takeover, call for better service lines (7)
I believe the answer is:
couplet
'lines' is the definition.
(two lines of poetry)
'after hostile takeover call for better service' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'takeover' could be 'coup' (I've seen this before) and 'coup' is present in the answer.
'service' could be 'let' (type of tennis serve) and 'let' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for couplet that I've seen before include "piece of poetry" , "Two lines of verse, often rhyming" , "Pair of lines in poetry" , "Pair of verse lines" , "Two successive lines of verse, usually rhyming" .)