Ask that only the end of the needle be stuck in a cushion (5)
I believe the answer is:
plead
'ask' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'only the end of the needle be stuck in a cushion' is the wordplay.
'only' becomes 'l' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'the end of the' indicates one should take the final letters.
'be stuck in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a cushion' becomes 'pad' (to cushion something is to pad it).
The last letter of 'needle' is 'e'.
'l'+'e'='le'
'le' put inside 'pad' is 'PLEAD'.
'that' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for plead that I've seen before include "advocate in court" , "Sue" , "Beg or petition" , "Appeal humbly (to)" , "Respond to charge" .)