Crossword Genius

Managing to bite back, holding with the tooth (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

coping

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

'managing' is the definition.
('cope' can be a synonym of 'manage')

'to bite back holding with the tooth' is the wordplay.
'to bite' means one lot of letters goes inside another (to have a bite can mean to consume).
'back holding with' becomes 'pin' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the tooth' becomes 'cog' (cog is a kind of tooth).
'pin' put into 'cog' is 'COPING'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for coping that I've seen before include "wall feature" , "Capping along the top of a stone wall" , "Managing, getting by" , "Doing well" , "sloping off course" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app