Timely sound, maybe followed by a squeak (3)
I believe the answer is:
pip
'squeak' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
I don't understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pip that I've seen before include "Great Expectations hero" , "Dickensian hero" , "Narrowly defeat" , "Palindromic pear seed" , "Greenwich time signal" .)