Briefly, country squire in poverty (8)
I believe the answer is:
indigent
'briefly country squire in poverty' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'briefly country squire' is the wordplay.
'briefly' means to remove the last letter.
'country' becomes 'india' (India is an example).
'squire' becomes 'gent' (I've seen this in another clue).
'india' with its last letter taken away is 'indi'.
'indi'+'gent'='INDIGENT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for indigent that I've seen before include "Impoverished -- ending it (anag)" , "Impoverished, destitute" , "Poor enough to need help from others" , "Needy, poverty-stricken" , "Poor and needy" .)