Express sadness when given a loan for only about half a day (6)
I believe the answer is:
lament
'express sadness when given a loan' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'only about half a day' is the wordplay.
'only about' becomes 'lam' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'half a' means to take half the letters.
'day' becomes 'recent' (I have seen 'Present day' mean 'recent' so perhaps 'day' could also mean 'recent').
'recent' cut in half is 'ent'.
'lam'+'ent'='LAMENT'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lament that I've seen before include "Song of sorrow" , "Mourn, express regret" , "complaint" , "Sad song" , "Mental (anag)" .)