Antelope's short dash (4)
I believe the answer is:
elan
'dash' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'antelope's short' is the wordplay.
'antelope' becomes 'eland' (eland is a kind of antelope).
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'eland' with its last letter taken off is 'ELAN'.
(Other definitions for elan that I've seen before include "Energy, style and enthusiasm" , "Vigour, style, enthusiasm" , "Vigour, panache" , "Dash, style" , "Dash in Paris" .)