Stroke misfires (5)
I believe the answer is:
serif
'stroke' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'misfires' is the wordplay.
'SERIF' is hidden back-to-front in amongst the letters.
However, I am not sure how this is indicated.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for serif that I've seen before include "stroke of the pen" , "One feature of text" , "Short line at the end of the main strokes of a printed character" , "Little bit of character" , "Brazil port" .)