Old nurse entertaining cupbearer in illicit drinking-den (7)
I believe the answer is:
shebeen
'old' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'nurse entertaining cupbearer in illicit drinking-den' is the wordplay.
'nurse' becomes 'sen' (abbreviation for Senior Enrolled Nurse).
'entertaining' indicates putting letters inside (inviting in, as for dinner).
'cupbearer in illicit drinking den' becomes 'hebe' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'sen' going around 'hebe' is 'SHEBEEN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shebeen that I've seen before include "Unlicensed drinking den" , "Where alcoholic drink is sold illegally" , "tavern that's cheap?" , "dive" , "unlicensed premises" .)