Big gun can receive a negative response from the French (6)
I believe the answer is:
cannon
'big gun' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'receive a negative response from the french' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found in the answer.
'negative' could be 'non' (similar in meaning) and 'non' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'c' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'can' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cannon that I've seen before include "Wheeled guns" , "Great gun" , "shot playing billiards" , "Heavy artillery piece" , "Large gun that fires heavy shells" .)