Academic lecturer made money (7)
I believe the answer is:
learned
'academic' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'lecturer made money' is the wordplay.
'lecturer' becomes 'l' (abbreviation for lecturer).
'made money' becomes 'earned' (I've seen this before).
'l'+'earned'='LEARNED'
(Other definitions for learned that I've seen before include "Found out; educated" , "Gained understanding" , "a word defining friend from Chambers?" , "Well-educated" , "Having great knowledge" .)