Four surrounded by drink still going strong (5)
I believe the answer is:
alive
'still going strong' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'four surrounded by drink' is the wordplay.
'four' becomes 'IV' (Roman numerals for four).
'surrounded by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'drink' becomes 'ale' (type of beer).
'iv' put within 'ale' is 'ALIVE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alive that I've seen before include "Still in use, not dead" , "Go or walk briskly" , "answer, as it happens" , "Animated and kicking" , "Animate, breathing" .)