State of rabbit regularly engulfed by tidal water (6)

I believe the answer is:

serbia

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'state' is the definition.
(Serbia is an example)

'rabbit regularly engulfed by tidal water' is the wordplay.
'regularly' means one should take alternating letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'engulfed by' indicates putting letters inside.
'tidal water' becomes 'sea' (sea is a kind of water. I am not sure about the 'tidal' bit.**).
The alternating letters of 'rabbit' are 'rbi'.
'rbi' placed inside 'sea' is 'SERBIA'.

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for serbia that I've seen before include "European country (bordering on 1 across)" , "South-east European country" , "European republic, capital Belgrade" , "part of Europe" , "Raise B in Yugoslavia" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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