Fool first to give help (6)
I believe the answer is:
assist
'give help' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'fool first' is the wordplay.
'fool' becomes 'ass' (both can mean a stupid person).
'first' becomes 'ist' (ist resembles ast).
'ass'+'ist'='ASSIST'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for assist that I've seen before include "Understand by instinct" , "Help member" , "benefit" , "Work as a subordinate" , "Be useful to" .)