Almost fail to catch name for butcher (9)
I believe the answer is:
mishandle
'butcher' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'almost fail to catch name' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'fail to catch' becomes 'miss' (I've seen this before).
'name' becomes 'handle' (a handle is a name).
'miss' with its final letter taken off is 'mis'.
'mis'+'handle'='MISHANDLE'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mishandle that I've seen before include "Wrongly manage" , "Bungle" , "Maltreat" , "Badly judge" , "Fumble" .)