Bark in chestnut rather yellow, initially (3)
I believe the answer is:
cry
'bark' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'chestnut rather yellow initially' is the wordplay.
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'chestnut rather yellow' is 'CRY'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for cry that I've seen before include "Sound of pain or grief" , "Sob or shout" , "Call" , "Blubber" , "Shout - weep" .)