Cat swallows the hollow symbol (5)
I believe the answer is:
totem
'symbol' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'cat swallows the hollow' is the wordplay.
'cat' becomes 'tom' (a tom is a male cat).
'swallows' indicates putting letters inside.
'hollow' means to remove the middle letters.
'the' with its centre removed is 'te'.
'tom' placed around 'te' is 'TOTEM'.
(Other definitions for totem that I've seen before include "emblem of tribe?" , "Emblem, maybe on pole" , "Animal as emblem" , "symbolic animal" , "Symbolic object with ritualistic associations" .)