Place had a mark in front to separate (8)
I believe the answer is:
amputate
'separate' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with contact as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'place had a mark in front' is the wordplay.
'place' becomes 'put' (synonyms).
'had' becomes 'ate' (e.g. I had an ice cream).
'mark' becomes 'm'.
'in front' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a'+'m'='am'
'put'+'ate'='putate'
'putate' put after 'am' is 'AMPUTATE'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for amputate that I've seen before include "Cut off an arm or a leg" , "In theatre, remove" , "Sever" , "Surgically remove all or part of limb" , "Cut off (a limb)" .)