Hide out and study Penny after a degree (7)
I believe the answer is:
abscond
'hide out' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I can't see how one could define the other.
'study penny after a degree' is the wordplay.
'study' becomes 'con' (con can informally mean to study).
'penny' becomes 'd' (pre-decimalisation abbreviation for penny).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'degree' becomes 'bs' (BS is an example).
'con'+'d'='cond'
'a'+'bs'='abs'
'cond' put after 'abs' is 'ABSCOND'.
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abscond that I've seen before include "Make off, do a runner" , "Depart without permission" , "Go away secretly after doing wrong" , "Do a bunk" , "Flee" .)