Cricketer puts lad to bed, quiet at last (7)
I believe the answer is:
boycott
'cricketer' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.
'lad to bed quiet at last' is the wordplay.
'lad' becomes 'boy' (I've seen this before).
'to' says to put letters next to each other.
'bed' becomes 'cot' (cot is a type of bed).
'at last' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'quiet' is 't'.
'boy'+'cot'+'t'='BOYCOTT'
'puts' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for boycott that I've seen before include "industrial action" , "Refuse to trade with" , "Refuse to handle or deal with" , "Refuse to patronise" , "Ostracise" .)