Generous applause by a few (8)
I believe the answer is:
handsome
'generous' is the definition.
('handsome' can be similar in meaning to 'generous')
'applause by a few' is the wordplay.
'applause' becomes 'hand' (hand is a kind of applause).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'a few' becomes 'some' (I've seen this before).
'hand'+'some'='HANDSOME'
(Other definitions for handsome that I've seen before include "'Good-looking, as a man might be (8)'" , "Good-looking, as a male say" , "Pleasing in appearance" , "Nice-looking" , "Goodly" .)