Haggard woman adopting pet, possibly hurt (6)
I believe the answer is:
scathe
'hurt' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'haggard woman adopting pet' is the wordplay.
'haggard woman' becomes 'she' (I am not sure about the 'haggard' bit.).
'adopting' indicates putting letters inside.
'pet' becomes 'cat' (I've seen this in other clues).
'she' enclosing 'cat' is 'SCATHE'.
'possibly' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scathe that I've seen before include "Harm, injure" , "Carpet" , "To scorn" .)