Grovel and return pan to wife (6)
I believe the answer is:
kowtow
'grovel' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'return pan to wife' is the wordplay.
'return' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'pan' becomes 'wok' (wok is a kind of pan).
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'wok' back-to-front is 'kow'.
'kow'+'to'+'w'='KOWTOW'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for kowtow that I've seen before include "Gesture of submission" , "Make a deferential gesture" , "Kneel in hommage" , "Be excessively subservient" , "Kneel (to someone)" .)