Ship in desert arrived and left (5)
I believe the answer is:
camel
'ship in desert' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.
'arrived and left' is the wordplay.
'arrived' becomes 'came' (coming is a kind of arriving).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'left' becomes 'L' (common abbreviation).
'came'+'l'='CAMEL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for camel that I've seen before include "A ship, some say" , "Ungulate mammal" , "Humped mammal" , "Saddle animal in desert regions" , "Bearer of burdens" .)