Deprived of cover, former partner assumed an attitude (7)
I believe the answer is:
exposed
'deprived of cover' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'former partner assumed an attitude' is the wordplay.
'former' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'partner' becomes 'd' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'assumed' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are assumed or taken in).
'an attitude' becomes 'pose' (attitude can mean a pose or stance).
'ex'+'d'='exd'
'exd' going around 'pose' is 'EXPOSED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for exposed that I've seen before include "Brought to light" , "With no protection or shield" , "vulnerable" , "Deprived of protection" , "Uncovered, visible" .)