To be robbed of a bottle opener can be a big thing! (3)
I believe the answer is:
toe
'a big thing' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'to be robbed of a bottle opener' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'to' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'can be' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for toe that I've seen before include "End of sock" , "Front of shoe" , "Lower tip of something" , "Calabria?" , "Drive obliquely" .)