Afraid of losing head in dressing down (6)
I believe the answer is:
earful
'dressing down' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'afraid of losing head' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'head' could be 'ear' (I have seen 'Head of corn' mean 'ear' so perhaps 'head' could also mean 'ear') and 'ear' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ful' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for earful that I've seen before include "Load of abuse (received)" , "load of wax, possibly" , "Ale fur (anag.)" , "Ticking-off" , "Reprimand (informal)" .)