Fruit soften, tons chucked out (3)
I believe the answer is:
haw
'fruit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'soften tons chucked out' is the wordplay.
'soften' becomes 'thaw'.
'tons' becomes 't'.
'chucked out' is a deletion indicator.
'thaw' with 't' removed is 'HAW'.
(Other definitions for haw that I've seen before include "Fruit of the hawthorn" , "Hedge fruit" , "Small red berry of a thorny tree" , "Hedgerow fruit" , "Hem and . . . - grope for words" .)