Hold and look closely at a tin, shaking it (7)
I believe the answer is:
contain
'hold' is the definition.
(I know this)
'look closely at a tin shaking it' is the wordplay.
'look closely at' becomes 'cont' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'shaking' suggests deleting specific letters (to shake can mean to lose or get rid of).
'it' becomes ''t' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis).
'tin' with 't' taken out is 'in'.
'cont'+'a'+'in'='CONTAIN'
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for contain that I've seen before include "keep within bounds" , "Enclose" , "Keep the lid on" , "Control, restrain" , "Keep within limits or have within" .)