Had a dream -- was skipping half-heartedly (5)
I believe the answer is:
hoped
'had a dream' is the definition.
'was skipping half-heartedly' is the wordplay.
'was skipping' becomes 'hopped'.
'half' means to take half the letters.
'heartedly' becomes 'ed' (I've seen this in other clues).
'hopped' halved is 'hop'.
'hop'+'ed'='HOPED'
(Other definitions for hoped that I've seen before include "Desired, with optimism" , "Desired, trusted" , "Expected and wished" , "Aspired" , "and 25: Anticipated" .)