Child tailing father is getting a thrill (7)
I believe the answer is:
frisson
'a thrill' is the definition.
(I know that thrill can be written as frisson)
'child tailing father is' is the wordplay.
'child' becomes 'son' (male child).
'tailing' means one lot of letters go next to another (to tail can mean to go after or follow).
'father' becomes 'fr' (abbreviation as in a priest's title).
'fr'+'is'='fris'
'son' after 'fris' is 'FRISSON'.
'getting' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for frisson that I've seen before include "Shudder of excitement" , "Kick" , "Shiver of excitement" , "Strong feeling of excitement, thrill" , "Emotional thrill" .)