One using needle or pin, not end of stick (5)
I believe the answer is:
sewer
'pin not end of stick' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'one using needle' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'needle' could be 'sew' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'sew' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'er' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sewer that I've seen before include "Pipe to carry away waste matter" , "Channel to carry away waste water and matter" , "One stitching - discharge channel" , "Drainage conduit" , "Large pipe for carrying waste matter" .)