Make a close search at the contest (6)
I believe the answer is:
combat
'contest' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'make a close search at the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
'search' could be 'comb' (combing is a kind of searching) and 'comb' is located in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for combat that I've seen before include "War; contest" , "Fight against; fighting" , "Oppose" , "Battle or fight" , "Fight or contest, may be mortal" .)