Falter, cutting long story short (3)
I believe the answer is:
sag
'falter cutting' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'long story short' is the wordplay.
'long story' becomes 'saga' (a saga is a long and complicated story).
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'saga' with its final letter taken off is 'SAG'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sag that I've seen before include "Lose energy" , "Slump" , "Give in the middle" , "Decline" , "Hang down loosely" .)