Degenerate picked up escort in retro party (2,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
go to seed
'degenerate' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot see how one could define the other.
'picked up escort in retro party' is the wordplay.
'picked up' becomes 'got'.
'escort' becomes 'see' (synonyms).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'retro' says the letters should be written backwards (retro is Latin for 'backwards').
'party' becomes 'do' (do is a kind of party).
'do' backwards is 'od'.
'see' going inside 'od' is 'oseed'.
'got'+'oseed'='GO TO SEED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for go to seed that I've seen before include "Lose power" , "Deteriorate through neglect" , "Not look after oneself" , "Decline" , "Become unkempt or shabby" .)