They love to hurt (7)
I believe the answer is:
sadists
'they' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are plural nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sadists that I've seen before include "Perverted pain-inflicters" , "They like to hurt" , "people with a mean streak" , "People who enjoy inflicting pain on others" , "Brutes" .)