Dig out a trainee from the north (6)
I believe the answer is:
boreal
'the north' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'dig out a trainee' is the wordplay.
'dig out' becomes 'bore' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'trainee' becomes 'l'.
'bore'+'a'+'l'='BOREAL'
'from' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for boreal that I've seen before include "Related to the northern lights" , "Relating to qualities associated with the north wind" .)