Coat lacking a bottom stitch, perhaps (4)
I believe the answer is:
pain
'stitch perhaps' is the definition.
(stitch is a kind of pain)
'coat lacking' is the wordplay.
'coat' becomes 'paint' (paint is a kind of coat).
'lacking' means to remove the last letter (the word is incomplete or lacking).
'paint' with its final letter taken away is 'PAIN'.
'a bottom' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pain that I've seen before include "can cause discomfort" , "Suffering, distress" , "French bread?" , "Bodily suffering or mental anguish" , "Sensation of acute discomfort" .)