Grab tin he provided in distress, to see it's expiring (9)
I believe the answer is:
breathing
'grab tin he provided in distress to see it's expiring' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'grab tin he provided' is the wordplay.
'provided' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'provide' mean this).
'grab'+'tin'+'he'='grabtinhe'
'grabtinhe' is an anagram of 'BREATHING'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for breathing that I've seen before include "Alive (but in need of space?)" , "It's inspiring" , "Respiring" , "(Of wine) exposed to fresh air" , "Respiration" .)