A male hairdo (4)

I believe the answer is:

perm

'hairdo' is the definition.
(perm is a kind of hairdo)

'a male' is the wordplay.
'a' becomes 'per'.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'per'+'m'='PERM'

(Other definitions for perm that I've seen before include "Russian city and hairstyle, in short" , "To curl (hair)" , "Old-fashioned haircut" , "Hair style (abbr)" , "Wavy hairstyle" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian and The Times.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app