It follows a returning animal without comment (5)
I believe the answer is:
tacit
'without comment' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'it follows a returning animal' is the wordplay.
'follows' says to put letters next to each other.
'a returning' says the letters should be written backwards.
'animal' becomes 'cat' (cats are animals).
'cat' written backwards gives 'tac'.
'it' put after 'tac' is 'TACIT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tacit that I've seen before include "Wordless" , "Implied without being stated" , "Understood without being put into words" , "Understood without being directly expressed" , "Implied, unstated" .)