Bird with dead rival (7)
I believe the answer is:
emulate
'rival' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'bird with dead' is the wordplay.
'bird' becomes 'emu' (emu is a kind of bird).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'dead' becomes 'late' (similar in meaning).
'emu'+'late'='EMULATE'
(Other definitions for emulate that I've seen before include "Copy -- reach equality with" , "Match by imitation" , "Strive to equal or surpass" , "Follow suit" , "Try to match" .)