Bronze lavvy functions (8)
I believe the answer is:
tangents
'functions' is the definition.
(I know this)
'bronze lavvy' is the wordplay.
'bronze' becomes 'tan' (both can mean to get a sun tan).
'lavvy' becomes 'gents' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'tan'+'gents'='TANGENTS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tangents that I've seen before include "Straight lines - ten gnats (anag)" , "Straight lines that touch curves" , "Straight lines that touche curves" , "Touching lines" , "Straight lines that touch but don't intersect a curve" .)