Loud defeat for a tooth cleaner (5)
I believe the answer is:
floss
'a tooth cleaner' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'loud defeat' is the wordplay.
'loud' becomes 'f' (short for forte - 'loud' in music).
'defeat' becomes 'loss' (I've seen this before).
'f'+'loss'='FLOSS'
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for floss that I've seen before include "The Mill on the - (George Eliot)" , "teeth cleaner" , "advice of dentist?" , "Silk" , "What dentist could recommend" .)