Cinders, initially in shoe, causes gossip (7)
I believe the answer is:
scandal
'gossip' is the definition.
(I know that scandal is a type of gossip)
'cinders initially in shoe' is the wordplay.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'shoe' becomes 'sandal' (sandal is a kind of shoe).
The first letter of 'cinders' is 'c'.
'c' inserted within 'sandal' is 'SCANDAL'.
'causes' is the link.
(Other definitions for scandal that I've seen before include "Disgraceful event" , "dirt" , "Outraging event" , "something injurious to one's reputation" , "Malicious talk; outrage" .)