Shot animal left for scavenger essentially (5)
I believe the answer is:
goner
'shot animal' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'left for scavenger essentially' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'gone' (I've seen this before).
'for' says to put letters next to each other.
'scavenger' becomes 'hoarder' (synonyms).
'essentially' means to look at the middle letters.
The middle letter of 'hoarder' is 'r'.
'gone'+'r'='GONER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for goner that I've seen before include "one with no life left" , "one with no future" , "No-hoper" , "One who can't be saved" , "Something beyond any chance of recovery" .)