Plant listening device in pub, catching English bête noire (7)
I believe the answer is:
bugbear
'bete noire' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'plant listening device in pub catching english' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'device' could be 'bug' (bug is a kind of device) and 'bug' is found within the answer.
'english' could be 'e' (abbreviation) and 'e' is located in the answer.
'pub' could be 'bar' (I've seen this before) and 'bar' is present in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bugbear that I've seen before include "An object of terror, dislike or annoyance" , "One's special fear" , "something really frightful" , "A source of annoyance" , "Thing causing obsessive anxiety" .)