Help to finish a French chicken (6)
I believe the answer is:
afraid
'chicken' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'help to finish a french' is the wordplay.
'help' becomes 'aid' (synonyms).
'to finish' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go after or 'finish' others).
'french' becomes 'fr'.
'a'+'fr'='afr'
'aid' put after 'afr' is 'AFRAID'.
(Other definitions for afraid that I've seen before include "makes one panicky" , "Alarmed, fearful" , "Fearful, anxious" , "Filled with concern" , "Regretfully" .)