Crossword Genius

Ruin vehicle - the silver is inside (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

carthage

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'ruin' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.

'vehicle the silver is inside' is the wordplay.
'vehicle' becomes 'car' (car is a kind of vehicle).
'silver' becomes 'Ag' (Ag is the chemical symbol for silver).
'is inside' indicates putting letters inside.
'the' enclosing 'ag' is 'thage'.
'car'+'thage'='CARTHAGE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for carthage that I've seen before include "Dido was queen of this ancient city in N Africa" , "Hannibal's home city" , "Ancient N. African city" , "Chart age of Dido's ancient city" , "It fought the Punic wars against ancient Rome" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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