Beat friend hollow and scoffed (9)
I believe the answer is:
palpitate
'beat' is the definition.
(palpitating is a kind of beating)
'friend hollow and scoffed' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'hollow' becomes 'pit' (pit is a kind of hollow).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'scoffed' becomes 'ate' ('to scoff' is to eat).
'pal'+'pit'+'ate'='PALPITATE'
(Other definitions for palpitate that I've seen before include "Rapidly beat" , "Shake, tremble" , "Beat abnormally quickly" , "Throb rapidly" , "flutter" .)