They usually pull their hair out with howlers (8)
I believe the answer is:
banshees
'they' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are plural nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for banshees that I've seen before include "Wailing women of Gaelic myth - kind of has-beens" , "Female Gaelic death-portending spirits - now kind of has-beens" , "Mythical Gaelic keening women" , "Gaelic keening women of myth" , "Female spirits, they warn of impending death" .)