A very noisy bearing causes concern (6)

I believe the answer is:

affair

'concern' is the definition.
(affair is a kind of concern)

'a very noisy bearing' is the wordplay.
'very noisy' becomes 'ff'.
'bearing' becomes 'air' (I've seen this before).
'a'+'ff'+'air'='AFFAIR'

'causes' is the link.

(Other definitions for affair that I've seen before include "River dam" , "A romantic intrigue" , "Subject" , "Singular business" , "Sexual liaison - concern" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph and The Globe and Mail.

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