… hide the real corruption (7)
I believe the answer is:
leather
'hide' is the definition.
(an animal hide)
'the real corruption' is the wordplay.
'corruption' indicates anagramming the letters.
'the'+'real'='thereal'
'thereal' is an anagram of 'LEATHER'.
(Other definitions for leather that I've seen before include "Treated hide" , "Polishing cloth" , "Tanned animal skin" , "Fabric" , "Cured animal hide" .)