Don't be idle, my friend, as a fellow toiler may say (8)
I believe the answer is:
workmate
'say' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'don't be idle my friend as a fellow toiler' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'be' could be 'work' (synonyms) and 'work' is found within the answer.
'friend' could be 'mate' (mate is a kind of friend) and 'mate' is found within the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'may' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for workmate that I've seen before include "Office colleague" , "Fellow employee" , "Tow maker (anag.)" .)