Ridiculed drinks and keys (6)
I believe the answer is:
teased
'ridiculed' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'drinks and keys' is the wordplay.
'drinks' becomes 'teas' (tea is a kind of drink).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'keys' becomes 'ed' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'teas'+'ed'='TEASED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for teased that I've seen before include "Provoked, being sedate" , "Kidded in sedate manner" , "Taunted playfully" , "Annoyed or separated fibres" , "Baited or bantered" .)