Capital of North Carolina (7)
I believe the answer is:
raleigh
'capital of north carolina' is the definition.
(synonyms)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for raleigh that I've seen before include "Elizabethan courtier" , "Tudor explorer" , "English explorer" , "Courtier favourite of Elizabeth I" , "Sir Walter . . . . . . ., potato and tobacco importer" .)