Cut off in Lima with Oscar and Papa (3)
I believe the answer is:
lop
'cut off' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'lima with oscar and papa' is the wordplay.
'lima' becomes 'L' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'oscar' becomes 'O' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'papa' becomes 'P' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'l'+'o'+'p'='LOP'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for lop that I've seen before include "Cut (e.g. branch off)" , "Cut away branches or twigs" , "Cut off, tree branches say" , "Hack" , "Remove branches from a tree" .)