Steal away when the child goes to sleep (6)
I believe the answer is:
kidnap
'steal away' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'the child goes to sleep' is the wordplay.
'the child' becomes 'kid' ('kid' can be a synonym of 'child').
'goes to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'sleep' becomes 'nap' (a nap is a short sleep).
'kid'+'nap'='KIDNAP'
'when' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for kidnap that I've seen before include "Seize, usually for ransom" , "Seize and hold for ransom" , "Small island" , "Abduct (a person)" , "deprive it of liberty" .)