Crossword Genius

Dine with nothing but oxtail, say (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

soup

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'oxtail say' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.

'dine with nothing' is the wordplay.
'dine' becomes 'sup' (synonyms).
'with' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'nothing' becomes 'O' (O resembles 0).
'sup' enclosing 'o' is 'SOUP'.

'but' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for soup that I've seen before include "Liquid - course" , "See 19" , "Bisque, for example" , "Eg, mulligatawny" , "Eskimo people" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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