Fairy used wings briefly to rise (3)
I believe the answer is:
elf
'fairy' is the definition.
(elf is a kind of fairy)
'used wings briefly to rise' is the wordplay.
'used wings' becomes 'flew'.
'briefly' means to remove the last letter.
'to rise' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'flew' with its last letter taken off is 'fle'.
'fle' reversed gives 'ELF'.
(Other definitions for elf that I've seen before include "Imaginary small being of selfish kind" , "A small sprite with magic powers" , "Magical being" , "Goblin" , "Diminutive folklore creature" .)