Where the French shelter their sick? (5)
I believe the answer is:
lille
'where' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'the french shelter their sick?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'sick?' could be 'ill' ('ill' can be a synonym of 'sick') and 'ill' is present in the answer.
'the french' could be 'le' ('the' in French) and 'le' is found in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lille that I've seen before include "European city" , "City of N. France" , "[FRANCOPHOBIA] would prevent you appreciating it" , "Industrial city of northern France" , "University city in French Flanders" .)