Stomach reportedly dropped before holy place (7)
I believe the answer is:
sanctum
'holy place' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'stomach reportedly dropped before' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'stomach' could be 'tum' (synonyms) and 'tum' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sanctum that I've seen before include "Sacred area" , "Private place, may be inner" , "somewhere private" , "Private study" , "Sacred place; private room" .)