Cancel a couple of notes by university student (5)
I believe the answer is:
annul
'cancel' is the definition.
(I know that annul is a is a more specific form of the action cancel)
'a couple of notes by university student' is the wordplay.
'couple of' indicates the doubling of some letters.
'notes' becomes 'n' (this might be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'student' becomes 'l' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'n' doubled is 'nn'.
'a'+'nn'+'u'+'l'='ANNUL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for annul that I've seen before include "Nullify" , "Countermand" , "Cancel, abolish" , "Quash" , "Cancel, revoke" .)