Nelson maybe making short speech after end of skirmish (7)
I believe the answer is:
horatio
'nelson maybe' is the definition.
(Horatio Nelson)
'short speech after end of skirmish' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'speech' becomes 'oration' (oration is a kind of speech).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'end of skirmish' becomes 'h' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'oration' with its final letter taken off is 'oratio'.
'oratio' put after 'h' is 'HORATIO'.
'making' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for horatio that I've seen before include "Nelson or Hornblower?" , "- Nelson, British admiral" , "Hamlet''s friend - Nelson" , "Good seafaring name" , "Nelson's first name" .)