Notary public takes in one drink (3)
I believe the answer is:
nip
'drink' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'notary public takes in one' is the wordplay.
'notary public' becomes 'np' (this could be a standard abbreviation which I don't know about).
'takes in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'np' placed around 'i' is 'NIP'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nip that I've seen before include "severe cold" , "Small drink or small bite" , "Pinch; drink of spirits" , "Pinch with small drink" , "In the air, it feels cold" .)