A quiet break swallowing lager top? Cheers (8)
I believe the answer is:
applause
'cheers' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a quiet break swallowing lager top?' is the wordplay.
'quiet' becomes 'p' (music symbol for 'piano').
'break' becomes 'pause' ('pause' can be a synonym of 'break'**).
'swallowing' is an insertion indicator.
'top?' indicates taking the first letters (I've seen 'top of' mean this).
The initial letter of 'lager' is 'l'.
'pause' enclosing 'l' is 'plause'.
'a'+'p'+'plause'='APPLAUSE'
(Other definitions for applause that I've seen before include "Gesture of approval" , "1a [BACALL] was in this musical" , "round, perhaps?" , "Audible indication of approval or praise" , "Approval shown by clapping" .)