They emerge at night from clubs (4)
I believe the answer is:
bats
'clubs' is the definition.
(bat is a kind of club)
'they emerge at night' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'at' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'from' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bats that I've seen before include "Pipistrelles, for example" , "Mad - clubs" , "Flying nocturnal mammals" , "cracked" , "Very eccentric" .)