Direct one’s hopes to a rising structure (6)
I believe the answer is:
aspire
'direct one's hopes to' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'a rising structure' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'structure' could be 'spire' (spire is a kind of structure) and 'spire' is found within the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aspire that I've seen before include "Hanker" , "Aim at high things" , "Strive for higher things" , "Have lofty aims" , "Have ambition (to achieve something)" .)