Exclamation involving a ‘Drat!' ultimately (4)
I believe the answer is:
oath
'exclamation involving a drat ultimately' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'exclamation involving a drat ultimately' is the wordplay.
'exclamation' becomes 'oh'.
'involving' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ultimately' indicates one should take the final letters.
The final letter of 'drat' is 't'.
'a'+'t'='at'
'oh' going around 'at' is 'OATH'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oath that I've seen before include "A solemn undertaking to tell the truth" , "Vow or expletive" , "'Profane, or solemn expression (4)'" , "Solemn vow" , "Curse or solemn promise" .)