Secure, compared to American stars (7)

I believe the answer is:

pegasus

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'stars' is the definition.
(constellation)

'secure compared to american' is the wordplay.
'secure' becomes 'peg'.
'compared to' becomes 'as' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'peg'+'as'+'us'='PEGASUS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pegasus that I've seen before include "with a place in the firmament" , "mount in the clouds" , "group of stars" , "Mythical flying horse" , "Mythical winged horse" .)

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