Killed by someone who had been one's char? (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
done for
'killed' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'someone who had been one's char?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'someone' could be 'don' (don is a kind of someone) and 'don' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'by' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for done for that I've seen before include "in serious trouble" , "close to death" , "Dead - almost dead" , "Sunk" , "Ruined" .)