Small car ran down front to the water's edge (6)
I believe the answer is:
strand
'the water's edge' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'small car ran down front' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'car' becomes 't'.
'front' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'down' is 'd'.
's'+'t'+'ran'+'d'='STRAND'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for strand that I've seen before include "Bit of wire, say" , "Leave in helpless position" , "Old magazine" , "Stretch of sand" , "Piece of yarn etc - London street" .)