Give up rugby player as a sweetener (8)
I believe the answer is:
kickback
'a sweetener' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
'give up rugby player' is the wordplay.
'give up' becomes 'kick' (kicking is a kind of giving up).
'rugby player' becomes 'back' (type of rugby player).
'kick'+'back'='KICKBACK'
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for kickback that I've seen before include "Recoil; illicit payment" , "Commercial bribe paid by a seller to a purchaser as an inducement to buy" , "Illegal payment" , "(Illicit) confidential payment to facilitator" , "Forceful recoil" .)