Remnants left behind by a tearaway? (5)
I believe the answer is:
stubs
'remnants left behind by a tearaway?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'remnants left behind by a tearaway?' is the wordplay.
'behind' says to take the final letters.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'a tearaway?' becomes 'ubs' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The last letters of 'remnants left' are 'st'.
'st'+'ubs'='STUBS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stubs that I've seen before include "residual pieces" , "Butts" .)