Big feline seen first, not caught, free and threatening (2,5)
I believe the answer is:
at large
'threatening' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'big feline seen first not caught free' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'big' could be 'large' ('large' can be a synonym of 'big') and 'large' is found within the answer.
'first' could be 'a' and 'a' is found in the answer.
A single letter 't' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for at large that I've seen before include "As a body" , "General on the loose" , "Roaming freely" , "Free, not in custody" , "Without particular target" .)