Hesitates -- daughter is crossing the river (7)
I believe the answer is:
dithers
'hesitates' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'daughter is crossing the river' is the wordplay.
'daughter' becomes 'dis' (I've seen this in other clues).
'is crossing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'river' becomes 'r'.
'the'+'r'='ther'
'dis' placed around 'ther' is 'DITHERS'.
(Other definitions for dithers that I've seen before include "Hesitates indecisively" , "Flaps, wavers" .)