Crossword Genius

Chopper settled on avenue with time to recover (4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sick leave

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'chopper' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.

'settled on avenue with time to recover' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'avenue' could be 'ave' and 'ave' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'sickle' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sick leave that I've seen before include "Time for workers to become better" , "recovery period" , "when not working on this" , "Ill time off work" , "benefit for those who are ill" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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