Confine English knight nearby (7)
I believe the answer is:
enclose
'confine' is the definition.
(I know that confine can be written as enclose)
'english knight nearby' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'knight' becomes 'N' (chess abbreviation).
'nearby' becomes 'close' (similar in meaning).
'e'+'n'+'close'='ENCLOSE'
(Other definitions for enclose that I've seen before include "Confine" , "Hem in" , "Cover" , "embrace" , "Surround on all sides" .)