Nell, said to give us a ring (5)
I believe the answer is:
knell
'ring' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'nell said' is the wordplay.
'said' shows a homophone (sound like).
'nell' is a homophone of 'KNELL'.
'to give us a' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for knell that I've seen before include "Sound of tolling bell" , "Toll, ring" , "''The curfew tolls the ... of parting day'' (Thomas Gray)" , "it precipitates death" , "Funeral toll" .)