Bishop, elderly and brave (4)
I believe the answer is:
bold
'brave' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'bishop elderly' is the wordplay.
'bishop' becomes 'B' (chess abbreviation).
'elderly' becomes 'old' (similar in meaning).
'b'+'old'='BOLD'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for bold that I've seen before include "Brave" , "Courageous, confident" , "Thick and heavy (type)" , "No chicken" , "Intrepid" .)