The German lair? (3)
I believe the answer is:
den
'lair?' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'the german' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'german' could be 'de' (abbreviation for Deutschland) and 'de' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'n' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for den that I've seen before include "Animals' shelter" , "Home of the beast" , "Hiding place" , "Hideaway" , "Wild animal's lair" .)