Housing developments in European countries (7)
I believe the answer is:
estates
'housing developments' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'european countries' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'countries' becomes 'states' (state can mean a country or nation).
'e'+'states'='ESTATES'
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for estates that I've seen before include "lands for development" , "Large cars" , "residential areas" , "Country properties" , "Demesnes" .)