engaged in combat, tenderly to be present (6)
I believe the answer is:
attend
'be present' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'engaged in combat tenderly to' is the wordplay.
'engaged in' indicates a hidden word.
'ATTEND' is hidden in the letters of 'combat tenderly to'.
(Other definitions for attend that I've seen before include "Be present at (an event)" , "Take part in" , "take heed" , "Go regularly to (school)" , "Wait and listen" .)