Dissolute chap and a king arrested by soldiers (4)
I believe the answer is:
rake
'dissolute chap' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'a king arrested by soldiers' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'K' (chess abbreviation).
'arrested by' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are held or arrested).
'soldiers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'a'+'k'='ak'
'ak' put inside 're' is 'RAKE'.
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rake that I've seen before include "Progress was visualised for one" , "Mast or funnel inclination" , "One may see a croupier with one" , "Dissolute person" , "One making progress in series of pictures" .)