Clinician, using piercing device, has a lazy way of communicating (5)
I believe the answer is:
drawl
'communicating' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for drawl that I've seen before include "Speak slowly and lazily" , "Speak languidly" , "Slow, protracted way of speaking" , "Affected speech" , "particular tone of voice" .)