Make aware of a broken zipper (7)

I believe the answer is:

apprize

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'make' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'aware of a broken zipper' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
an anagram of 'zipper' is 'pprize' which is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.