Like a government agent supplied by an eccentric earl (7)
I believe the answer is:
federal
'like' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'a government agent supplied by an eccentric earl' is the wordplay.
'a government agent' becomes 'fed' (I've seen this in another clue).
'supplied by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'an eccentric' is an anagram indicator.
'earl' with letters rearranged gives 'eral'.
'fed'+'eral'='FEDERAL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for federal that I've seen before include "Of central government, not its separate states" , "(Of a union or government) involving states voluntarily joined together for common purposes" , "Of the state" , "Common government for a group of normally autonomous states or regions" , "Relating to central government in the US" .)