Zodiacal light made lawns fade (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
false dawn
'zodiacal light' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'made lawns fade' is the wordplay.
'made' is an anagram indicator.
'lawns'+'fade'='lawnsfade'
'lawnsfade' anagrammed gives 'FALSE DAWN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for false dawn that I've seen before include "Light before sunrise" , "transient light?" , "time of illusory promise" , "Leads fawn into illusory light or deceptive beginning" , "Promising situation that comes to nothing" .)