Criminal with sick bird, so we hear (7)
I believe the answer is:
illegal
'criminal' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'sick bird so we hear' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'sick' could be 'ill' (similar in meaning) and 'ill' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'egal' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for illegal that I've seen before include "Unlawful" , "Black-market" , "Such an immigrant" , "murder sure is!" , "Outlawed" .)