China in place or out of place (9)
I believe the answer is:
porcelain
'china' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'in place or out of place' is the wordplay.
'out of place' indicates an anagram.
'in'+'place'+'or'='inplaceor'
'inplaceor' anagrammed gives 'PORCELAIN'.
(Other definitions for porcelain that I've seen before include "Translucent pottery" , "fragile goods" , "Jasper, perhaps" , "Form of ceramic" , "Fine white ceramic" .)