Dirt from end of shoe found in lounge by son (6)
I believe the answer is:
sleaze
'dirt' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'end of shoe found in lounge by son' is the wordplay.
'end of' says to take the final letters.
'found in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'lounge' becomes 'laze' (I've seen this before**).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'son' becomes 's'.
The final letter of 'shoe' is 'e'.
'e' put inside 'laze' is 'leaze'.
'leaze' after 's' is 'SLEAZE'.
'from' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sleaze that I've seen before include "Tacky corruption" , "Sordid scandal, often associated with politics" , "'Cheapness, tackiness (6)'" , "Corrupt (political?) behaviour" , "Cheap and vulgar behaviour" .)