Entrance the prisoner is put out at (9)
I believe the answer is:
captivate
'entrance' is the definition.
(I know that entrance can be written as captivate)
'prisoner is put out at' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'at' is found in the answer.
'prisoner' could be 'captive' (synonyms) and 'captive' is found within the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for captivate that I've seen before include "Enchant" , "Entrance" , "Delight" , "Fascinate completely" , "Charm" .)