Fry, Stephen, initially given attention (4)
I believe the answer is:
sear
'fry' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'stephen initially given attention' is the wordplay.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'given' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'attention' becomes 'ear' (having someone's ear is having their attention).
The first letter of 'stephen' is 's'.
's'+'ear'='SEAR'
(Other definitions for sear that I've seen before include "Dried up, parched" , "Make very hot and dry" , "Cauterize" , "Cook (quickly at great heat)" , "Scorch, brand" .)