Bird over new atomic plant (5)
I believe the answer is:
henna
'plant' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'bird over new atomic' is the wordplay.
'bird' becomes 'hen' (hen is a kind of bird).
'over' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'atomic' becomes 'a' (eg in A-test, atomic test).
'hen'+'n'+'a'='HENNA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for henna that I've seen before include "Shrub used for cosmetic colouring" , "Natural hair dye" , "A shrub, its red dye" , "(Shrub producing) reddish dyestuff" , "Reddish cosmetic dye" .)