Begin with the French getting a lift (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
lead off
'begin' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the french getting a lift' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'getting' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'lift' becomes 'doff' (as in doffing your hat).
'le'+'a'+'doff'='LEAD-OFF'
'with' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for lead off that I've seen before include "Begin, start" , "Begin the dance" , "Make a start" , "Initiate an action" .)