Tolerate copper joining British youngster (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
bear cub
'youngster' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'tolerate copper joining british' is the wordplay.
'tolerate' becomes 'bear' (synonyms).
'copper' becomes 'cu' (chemical symbol).
'joining' says to put letters next to each other.
'british' becomes 'b' (abbreviation e.g. in 'BBC').
'bear'+'cu'+'b'='BEAR CUB'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bear cub that I've seen before include "Young carnivore" , "youngster?" , "Ursine baby" , "Paddington, perhaps" .)