Applause? I contribute to it, ousting Liberal in contest (8)
I believe the answer is:
handicap
'it ousting liberal in contest' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'applause? i contribute' is the wordplay.
'applause?' becomes 'hand' (as in giving someone a big hand).
'contribute' becomes 'cap' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'hand'+'i'+'cap'='HANDICAP'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for handicap that I've seen before include "Block" , "golfer's measure of skill" , "It impedes or hinders" , "Hold back" , "Impairment" .)