US city railway dispensing with silver leaf (7)
I believe the answer is:
chicory
'dispensing with silver leaf' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'us city railway' is the wordplay.
'us city' becomes 'chico' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'railway' becomes 'ry' (abbreviation).
'chico'+'ry'='CHICORY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chicory that I've seen before include "Plant with edible salad leaves" , "Plant used instead of coffee" , "Root used as a coffee substitute" , "used in salads" , "Vegetable used with coffee" .)