Crossword Genius

Island friend keeps it for parrot (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

imitate

'parrot' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'island friend keeps it' is the wordplay.
'island' becomes 'i'.
'friend' becomes 'mate' (mate is a kind of friend).
'keeps' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'mate' going around 'it' is 'mitate'.
'i'+'mitate'='IMITATE'

'for' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for imitate that I've seen before include "I tame it to copy it" , "'Ape, copy (7)'" , "Copy (mannerisms)" , "Parrot" , "I ate Tim! (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.