Disregarding tense occasions in matches (5)
I believe the answer is:
evens
'matches' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to change as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'disregarding tense occasions' is the wordplay.
'disregarding' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'tense' becomes 't' (abbreviation used in many dictionaries).
'occasions' becomes 'events' (I have seen 'Social occasions' mean 'events' so perhaps 'occasions' could also mean 'events').
'events' with 't' taken out is 'EVENS'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for evens that I've seen before include "In betting, winning the amount staked" , "Half a chance" , "less likely than 27 [ODDS-ON]" , "Odds offering equal chance of win or lose" , "Level betting" .)