Lived with learner losing items regularly (4)
I believe the answer is:
were
'lived' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with fundamental existence as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'with learner losing items regularly' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'with' could be 'w' (short for with) and 'w' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ere' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for were that I've seen before include "Lycanthrope" , "'Are, in the past (4)'" , "Existed in the past" , "(We/you) existed" , "Used to be" .)