The menagerie lake? (4)

I believe the answer is:

erie

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'lake?' is the definition.
(Lake Erie is one of the Canadian/US 'Great Lakes')

'the menagerie' is the wordplay.
'ERIE' is hidden within the letters.
But, I'm uncertain how the hidden word is indicated.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for erie that I've seen before include "Great lake in Eire" , "Lake between Canada and the US" , "Buffalo's lake" , "North american lake sounds spooky" , "N. American lake" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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