Regretted not holding out, but being overtaken by disaster (6)
I believe the answer is:
ruined
'regretted not holding out' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'being overtaken by disaster' is the wordplay.
'being overtaken' becomes 'ed' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'disaster' becomes 'ruin' (ruin can mean disaster or catastrophe).
'ed' put after 'ruin' is 'RUINED'.
'but' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ruined that I've seen before include "Done for" , "Bankrup - destroyed" , "Wrecked" , "Completely destroyed" , "Devastated" .)