Female embracing crew in lift (8)
I believe the answer is:
heighten
'lift' is the definition.
(heightening is a kind of lifting)
'female embracing crew' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'hen' (female chicken).
'embracing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'crew' becomes 'eight' (an eight-person rowing team).
'hen' enclosing 'eight' is 'HEIGHTEN'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for heighten that I've seen before include "Make more intense - elevate?" , "Move up" , "Raise" , "Intensify; make taller" , "Intensify, enhance" .)