Cat's coat poorly clipped (8)
I believe the answer is:
staccato
'clipped' is the definition.
('staccato' can be similar in meaning to 'clipped')
'cat's coat poorly' is the wordplay.
'poorly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cats'+'coat'='catscoat'
'catscoat' is an anagram of 'STACCATO'.
(Other definitions for staccato that I've seen before include "Musically, in sharp disconnected manner" , "Toccatas in sharp disconnected manner" , "detached playing style" , "with snappy sounds" , "Opposite of legato" .)