Fork out to cover American ground (7)
I believe the answer is:
suspend
'fork out to cover american ground' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'fork out to cover american' is the wordplay.
'fork out' becomes 'spend' (I've seen this in another clue).
'to cover' is an insertion indicator.
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'spend' going around 'us' is 'SUSPEND'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for suspend that I've seen before include "put on line" , "Hang freely" , "Bring to a temporary halt" , "Remove temporarily from office - hang" , "Stay" .)