Set small dwelling by lake (7)
I believe the answer is:
coterie
'set' is the definition.
(I know that coterie is a type of set)
'small dwelling by lake' is the wordplay.
'small dwelling' becomes 'cot' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'lake' becomes 'Erie' (Lake Erie is one of the Canadian/US 'Great Lakes').
'cot'+'erie'='COTERIE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for coterie that I've seen before include "Small exclusive circle with a common purpose" , "EEC trio in exclusive group" , "Small exclusive group of people" , "Exclusive circle of people, clique" , "Set" .)