That short winter began to end with this (4)
I believe the answer is:
thaw
'end with this' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'that short winter began' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'began' says to take the initial letters (I've seen 'beginning' mean this).
The first letter of 'winter' is 'w'.
'that' with its last letter removed is 'tha'.
'tha'+'w'='THAW'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for thaw that I've seen before include "when the temperature rises?" , "detente" , "the end of a white Christmas?" , "(Of snow) start to melt" , "spring weather?" .)