Regret hiding large rare item in schoolbag (5)
I believe the answer is:
ruler
'item in schoolbag' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'regret hiding large rare' is the wordplay.
'regret' becomes 'rue' (synonyms).
'hiding' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'large' becomes 'L' (eg in clothes sizes).
'rare' becomes 'r' (listed by Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations).
'rue' going around 'l' is 'rule'.
'rule'+'r'='RULER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ruler that I've seen before include "One for drawing lines" , "Queen, say" , "Leader - line-drawing aid" , "Man in charge" , "Monarch - straightedge" .)