Cry or complain in a terrible atmosphere (5)
I believe the answer is:
bleat
'cry' is the definition.
(bleat is a kind of cry)
'in a terrible atmosphere' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'BLEAT' is hidden in the letters of 'terrible atmosphere'.
'or complain' acts as a 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 bleat that I've seen before include "kid makes such a noise" , "Cry plaintively" , "Cry of a sheep or calf" , "Cry of sheep or goat" , "Complaint from Cotswold" .)