Pleaded to adopt bird with curved limbs (3-6)
I believe the answer is:
bow-legged
'curved limbs' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech. However, past participle verbs and adjectives sometimes mean the same thing.
'pleaded to adopt bird' is the wordplay.
'pleaded' becomes 'begged' (begging is a kind of pleading).
'to adopt' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are taken in or adopted).
'bird' becomes 'owl' (owl is a kind of bird).
'begged' enclosing 'owl' is 'BOW-LEGGED'.
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for bow-legged that I've seen is " Bandy".)