Beats squad with hesitation to boat (13)
I believe the answer is:
paddlesteamer
'boat' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'beats squad with hesitation' is the wordplay.
'beats' becomes 'paddles' (paddling is a kind of beating).
'squad with' becomes 'team' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'hesitation' becomes 'er' (sound made while hesitating - um, er).
'paddles'+'team'+'er'='PADDLESTEAMER'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for paddlesteamer that I've seen before include "Typical Mississippi vessel" , "River transport" , "Wheel-driven boat" , "River boat, probably" , "Wheel-driven vessel" .)