Rough area, dry, containing phosphorus (6)
I believe the answer is:
abrupt
'rough' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'area dry containing phosphorus' is the wordplay.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'dry' becomes 'brut' (type of wine).
'containing' indicates putting letters inside.
'phosphorus' becomes 'P' (P is the chemical symbol for phosphorus).
'brut' going around 'p' is 'brupt'.
'a'+'brupt'='ABRUPT'
(Other definitions for abrupt that I've seen before include "Curt; precipitous" , "Hurried or curt" , "Short and rude" , "brisk" , "Curt, sharp" .)