Model of Parthenon, say, consuming a ton (8)
I believe the answer is:
template
'model' is the definition.
(template is a kind of model)
'parthenon say consuming a ton' is the wordplay.
'parthenon say' becomes 'temple' (parthenon is a kind of temple).
'consuming' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ton' becomes 't'.
'a'+'t'='at'
'temple' placed around 'at' is 'TEMPLATE'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for template that I've seen before include "Model, example to follow" , "Shape serving as model" , "Something used as a pattern" , "Prototype" , "Model from which copies are made" .)