Father takes the French request (4)
I believe the answer is:
plea
'request' is the definition.
(plea is a kind of request)
'father takes the french' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'pa' (pa can mean dad or father).
'takes' is an insertion indicator.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'pa' going around 'le' is 'PLEA'.
(Other definitions for plea that I've seen before include "Excuse - pretext" , "Answer made by the accused to the charge" , "Defendant's answer to a charge or claim" , "response to criminal charges" , "(and 14) Enjoyment - gratification" .)