Armadillo initially bit blokes by Texas border units (10)

I believe the answer is:

apartments

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'units' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'armadillo initially bit blokes by texas border' is the wordplay.
'armadillo' becomes 'apar' (apar is a kind of armadillo).
'initially bit blokes' becomes 'tmen' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'border' suggests removing the centre (I've seen 'borders of' mean this).
'texas' with its centre taken out is 'ts'.
'apar'+'tmen'+'ts'='APARTMENTS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for apartments that I've seen before include "accommodation?" , "Private suite of rooms" , "Flats" , "Housing" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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