Put down or around a nonconductor (9)

I believe the answer is:

insulator

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'nonconductor' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'put down or around a' is the wordplay.
'put down' becomes 'insult' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'insult'+'or'='insultor'
'insultor' placed around 'a' is 'INSULATOR'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for insulator that I've seen before include "Non-conducting material" , "Non-conductor" , "Non-conducting solid" , "safety device" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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