After tip-off, gets hold of fruit (5)
I believe the answer is:
rasps
'fruit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'after tip-off gets hold of' is the wordplay.
'after tip-off' means to remove the first letter (one of the tips is taken off the word).
'gets hold of' becomes 'grasps' (I've seen this before).
'grasps' with its first letter removed is 'RASPS'.
(Other definitions for rasps that I've seen before include "speaks hoarsely" , "Jars" , "Scrapes" , "Grates harshly" , "fruit briefly" .)