Asthmatic's expression of delight with spirit (8)
I believe the answer is:
wheezing
'asthmatic's' is the definition.
('wheezing' can be a synonym of 'asthmatic')
'expression of delight with spirit' is the wordplay.
'expression of delight' becomes 'whee' (I've seen this before).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'spirit' becomes 'zing' (I've seen this before**).
'whee'+'zing'='WHEEZING'
(Other definitions for wheezing that I've seen before include "Breathing with difficulty" , "Breathing noisily" .)