Give up French article during check (7)
I believe the answer is:
refrain
'give up' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'french article during check' is the wordplay.
'french' becomes 'fr'.
'article' becomes 'a' (indefinite article).
'during' indicates putting letters inside.
'check' becomes 'rein' (both can mean to control or limit).
'fr'+'a'='fra'
'fra' going into 'rein' is 'REFRAIN'.
(Other definitions for refrain that I've seen before include "Hold back" , "Forbear from chorus?" , "Lines repeated at the end of each verse" , "Much repeated saying" , "Do without" .)