Elaborate old lover needing money (7)
I believe the answer is:
expound
'elaborate' is the definition.
(I know that elaborate can be written as expound)
'old lover needing money' is the wordplay.
'old lover' becomes 'ex' (an ex-lover).
'needing' says to put letters next to each other.
'money' becomes 'pound' (I've seen this in other clues).
'ex'+'pound'='EXPOUND'
(Other definitions for expound that I've seen before include "Put forward detailed argument" , "Elucidate" , "Set out in a detailed and learned way" , "Spell out" , "Elaborate" .)