In extremes of poverty, a loan means a lot (6)
I believe the answer is:
plenty
'a lot' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'in extremes of poverty a loan' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'extremes of' means to remove the middle letters (only the letters at the extremes of the word).
'a loan' becomes 'lent' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'poverty' with its centre removed is 'py'.
'py' placed around 'lent' is 'PLENTY'.
'means' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for plenty that I've seen before include "As much as necessary" , "More than enough" , "A full supply - lots" , "A great deal" , "A lot" .)