English couple backtracking after a company order (8)
I believe the answer is:
acoemeti
'order' is the definition.
(I have seen 'monastic order' mean 'acoemeti' so perhaps 'order' could also mean 'acoemeti')
'english couple backtracking after a company' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'couple' becomes 'item' (a romantic couple are 'an item').
'backtracking' is a reversal indicator.
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'item' reversed gives 'meti'.
'e'+'meti'='emeti'
'a'+'co'='aco'
'emeti' after 'aco' is 'ACOEMETI'.
(Other definitions for acoemeti that I've seen before include "monks" , "monastic order" .)