Run off as rest act badly (7)
I believe the answer is:
scatter
'run off' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'rest act badly' is the wordplay.
'badly' is an anagram indicator.
'rest'+'act'='restact'
'restact' with letters rearranged gives 'SCATTER'.
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scatter that I've seen before include "Dissipate" , "Disperse, strew" , "Throw around; disperse" , "Throw in various directions" , "Sprinkle" .)