Prisoner kept in a lift with no sign of life (9)
I believe the answer is:
inanimate
'prisoner kept in a lift with no sign of life' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'prisoner kept in a lift' is the wordplay.
'prisoner' becomes 'inmate' (inmate is a kind of prisoner).
'kept' is an insertion indicator.
'lift' is a reversal indicator (I've seen 'lifting' mean this).
'in'+'a'='ina'
'ina' back-to-front is 'ani'.
'inmate' placed around 'ani' is 'INANIMATE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for inanimate that I've seen before include "Dull" , "Lifeless, showing no signs of activity" , "Unlikely to move" , "Still" , "wooden" .)