Suppose former partner nibbled on the ear? (6)
I believe the answer is:
expect
'suppose' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'former partner nibbled on the ear?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'former' could be 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime) and 'ex' is located in the answer.
'partner' could be 'e' and 'e' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' 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 expect that I've seen before include "Regard (something) as likely to happen" , "Confidently hope" , "Regard something as probable" , "Think of as likely to happen" , "Be pregnant" .)