Attract resistance pursuing popular copper (5)
I believe the answer is:
incur
'attract' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'resistance pursuing popular copper' is the wordplay.
'resistance' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'pursuing' says to put letters next to each other.
'popular' becomes 'in'.
'copper' becomes 'cu' (chemical symbol).
'in'+'cu'='incu'
'r' after 'incu' is 'INCUR'.
(Other definitions for incur that I've seen before include "Take on (obligation)" , "Sustain" , "Become liable or subject to" , "Arouse" , "Assume" .)