Fail to catch American wife (6)

I believe the answer is:

missus

'wife' is the definition.
(someone's missus is their wife)

'fail to catch american' is the wordplay.
'fail to catch' becomes 'miss' (I've seen this before).
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'miss'+'us'='MISSUS'

(Other definitions for missus that I've seen before include "Dutch American" , "The old lady" , "trouble and strife" , "Wife (colloquial)" , "As partner" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian and the Evening Standard.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app