Wrong term for a quarter mile! (5)
I believe the answer is:
metre
'mile' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both quantities as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'wrong term for a quarter' is the wordplay.
'wrong' indicates anagramming the letters.
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a quarter' becomes 'e'.
'term' anagrammed gives 'metr'.
'metr'+'e'='METRE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for metre that I've seen before include "Characteristic of feet" , "Distance" , "Yard is smaller than this" , "Poetic rhythm" , "Alignment of feet determines such" .)