Court oddly leading to nick (3)
I believe the answer is:
cut
'nick' is the definition.
(I know that nick is a more specific form of the action cut)
'court oddly' is the wordplay.
'oddly' indicates alternate letters (letters in the odd-numbered positions are used).
The alternate letters of 'court' are 'CUT'.
'leading to' is the link.
(Other definitions for cut that I've seen before include "Percentage" , "Hacked off" , "Sever; ignore" , "Shorten; (one's) share" , "A share of the profits" .)