Leave port served up around Little Christmas (4)
I believe the answer is:
sail
'leave port' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'up around little christmas' is the wordplay.
'up' becomes 'risen' ('risen' can be similar in meaning to 'up').
'around' indicates the central letters.
'little christmas' becomes 'ail' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The middle letter of 'risen' is 's'.
's'+'ail'='SAIL'
'served' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sail that I've seen before include "Navigate" , "It catches the wind on a mast" , "Leave harbour" , "Sheet used to catch the wind" , "Begin a voyage" .)