Attempted to collect males when cut (7)
I believe the answer is:
trimmed
'cut' is the definition.
(I know that cut can be written as trimmed)
'attempted to collect males' is the wordplay.
'attempted' becomes 'tried' ('try' can be a synonym of 'attempt').
'to collect' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are collected by others).
'males' becomes 'mm' (an abbreviation for male written twice).
'tried' placed around 'mm' is 'TRIMMED'.
'when' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for trimmed that I've seen before include "Clipped, cut back" , "Decorated" , "Modified views" , "cut down to size" , "Rebuked once" .)