Nearly has musical perception (3)
I believe the answer is:
ear
'musical perception' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to thinking as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'nearly has' is the wordplay.
'has' indicates a hidden word.
'EAR' is hidden within 'nearly'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ear that I've seen before include "Van Gogh missing body part" , "Go astray" , "Musical ability" , "cut" , "Organ inside heart" .)