Ranks of English whisked round Loch Ness endlessly (8)
I believe the answer is:
echelons
'ranks' is the definition.
(I know this)
'english whisked round loch ness endlessly' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'ech' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'whisked' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'whisk' mean this (I've seen this in other clues)).
'round' becomes 'o' (round can mean a round object).
'loch' becomes 'l'.
'endlessly' means to remove the last letter.
'o'+'l'+'ness'='olness'
'olness' with its final letter taken off is 'olnes'.
'olnes' with letters rearranged gives 'elons'.
'ech'+'elons'='ECHELONS'
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for echelons that I've seen before include "Levels of authority" , "Levels or ranks in an organization" , "Len chose levels or grades" , "Levels of rank, could be upper" .)