Bill carries a bird in a lift (11)
I believe the answer is:
paternoster
'a lift' is the definition.
(paternoster is a kind of lift)
'bill carries a bird in' is the wordplay.
'bill' becomes 'poster' ('poster' can be a synonym of 'bill').
'carries' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'bird in' becomes 'tern' (tern is a kind of bird. I am not sure about the 'in' bit.**).
'a'+'tern'='atern'
'poster' going around 'atern' is 'PATERNOSTER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for paternoster that I've seen before include "a continuous lift" , "that could take people to a different level" , "One can get uplifted by this" , "The Lord''s Prayer" , "supplication" .)