Deacon has hinted regularly about upgrade (7)
I believe the answer is:
enhance
'upgrade' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'deacon has hinted regularly about' is the wordplay.
'regularly' indicates alternate letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'about' is a reversal indicator.
'deacon'+'has'+'hinted'='deaconhashinted'
The alternating letters of 'deaconhashinted' are 'ecnahne'.
'ecnahne' in reverse letter order is 'ENHANCE'.
(Other definitions for enhance that I've seen before include "Add function, appeal, to" , "Make even better" , "Improve, make more attractive" , "Improve the quality of (something)" , "Increase in power" .)