Large housing project in European country (6)
I believe the answer is:
estate
'large housing project' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'european country' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'country' becomes 'state' ('state' can be a synonym of 'country').
'e'+'state'='ESTATE'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for estate that I've seen before include "My wealth" , "Total possessions" , "One's property after death" , "Extensive landed property (6)" , "Everything one owns -- tea set (anag)" .)