City dweller is metropolitan, but every now and then regresses and eats in (8)
I believe the answer is:
urbanite
'city dweller' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'metropolitan but every now and then regresses and eats in' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'metropolitan' could be 'urban' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'urban' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ite' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for urbanite that I've seen is " Unbear it for city dweller".)