Red cloak left in fright close to forest (7)
I believe the answer is:
scarlet
'forest' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'red cloak left in fright close to' is the wordplay.
'red cloak' becomes 'scare' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'close to' suggests the final letters (the close/ending of).
The final letter of 'fright' is 't'.
'scare' placed around 'l' is 'scarle'.
'scarle'+'t'='SCARLET'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scarlet that I've seen before include "Vivid red" , "Clarets (anag.)" , "bloody?" , "Fallen" , "Crimson" .)