Petitioning for quiet at the front (8)
I believe the answer is:
pleading
'petitioning' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being present participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'for quiet at the front' is the wordplay.
'for quiet' becomes 'p' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'the front' becomes 'leading' (I've seen this before).
'p'+'leading'='PLEADING'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pleading that I've seen before include "Imploring" , "Appealing emotionally" , "Begging" , "Take no risks" .)