Crossword Genius

Dread about the unknown, such as birds? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

feathery

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'dread about the unknown such as birds?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'dread about the unknown' is the wordplay.
'dread' becomes 'fear' (synonyms).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'unknown' becomes 'y' (algebra).
'fear' placed around 'the' is 'feather'.
'feather'+'y'='FEATHERY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for feathery that I've seen before include "like birds" , "Fluffy" , "being described as down" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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