Magistrate in Venice finally meeting man’s best friend (4)
I believe the answer is:
doge
'magistrate' is the definition.
(doge is a kind of magistrate)
'venice finally meeting man's best friend' is the wordplay.
'finally' says to take the final letters.
'meeting' says to put letters next to each other.
'man's best friend' becomes 'dog' (I've seen this in another clue).
The last letter of 'venice' is 'e'.
'e' after 'dog' is 'DOGE'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for doge that I've seen before include "foreign magistrate" , "Historically, the chief magistrate of Venice or Genoa" , "Old ruler of Venice" , "Old chief magistrate in Venice and Genoa" , "Venetian chief magistrate" .)