Cowardly answer following attack (6)
I believe the answer is:
afraid
'cowardly' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'answer following attack' is the wordplay.
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
'following' becomes 'f' (used when citing page numbers etc).
'attack' becomes 'raid' (raiding is a kind of attacking).
'a'+'f'+'raid'='AFRAID'
(Other definitions for afraid that I've seen before include "Frightened" , "cowardly" , "Scared, apprehensive" , "makes one panicky" , "with butterflies" .)