Go easily when putting the French out of work (4)
I believe the answer is:
lope
'go easily' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'the french out of work' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'out of' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters on the outside of others).
'work' becomes 'op' (short for opus).
'le' enclosing 'op' is 'LOPE'.
'when putting' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lope that I've seen before include "Run with aid of pole" , "Run with long strides using pole" , "Bound along carrying pole" , "Run along easily" , "run gently" .)