Deign to give a drunken sot an operation (5)
I believe the answer is:
stoop
'deign' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'give a drunken sot an operation' is the wordplay.
'give' says to put letters next to each other.
'a drunken' indicates anagramming the letters.
'an operation' becomes 'op'.
'sot' with letters rearranged gives 'sto'.
'sto'+'op' is 'STOOP'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for stoop that I've seen before include "Bent posture" , "Hunch" , "Bow or bend" , "Condescend" , "Sink" .)