Fools take on county (9)
I believe the answer is:
berkshire
'county' is the definition.
(I know that Berkshire is a county)
'fools take' is the wordplay.
'fools' becomes 'berks' (berk can mean a fool).
'take' becomes 'hire' (synonyms).
'berks'+'hire'='BERKSHIRE'
'on' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for berkshire that I've seen before include "Southern county" , "Windsor area" , "English county" , "County W. of_London" , "County west of London" .)