Bit of play from an empty court (3)
I believe the answer is:
act
'bit of play' is the definition.
('act' is part of 'play')
'an empty court' is the wordplay.
'an' becomes 'a'.
'empty' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'court' with its middle removed is 'ct'.
'a'+'ct'='ACT'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for act that I've seen before include "performing group" , "Start of a drama" , "Do something (on stage?)" , "Perform - part of a play" , "Feat" .)