Crossword Genius

Encountered engineers in the distance (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

metre

'distance' is the definition.
(unit of distance)

'encountered engineers' is the wordplay.
'encountered' becomes 'met' ('meet' can be a synonym of 'encounter').
'engineers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'met'+'re'='METRE'

'in the' is the link.

(Other definitions for metre that I've seen before include "39.37 inches" , "determined by scanning" , "measure of length" , "Beat pattern (mus.)" , "Approximately 39 inches" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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