Object left in cooking vessel (4)
I believe the answer is:
plan
'object left in cooking vessel' is the definition.
'plan' can be an answer for 'object' (thesaurus). I am not certain of the 'left in cooking vessel' bit.
'left in cooking vessel' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'cooking vessel' becomes 'pan' (I've seen this before).
'l' placed within 'pan' is 'PLAN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for plan that I've seen before include "Stratagem" , "Design; map" , "Scheme, design" , "Formulate" , "Intend" .)