Hold with force and tear (4)
I believe the answer is:
grip
'hold' is the definition.
(I know that hold can be written as grip)
'force and tear' is the wordplay.
'force' becomes 'g' (short for gravity).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'tear' becomes 'rip' (synonyms).
'g'+'rip'='GRIP'
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for grip that I've seen before include "Purchase" , "Baggage - hold" , "Clutch - holdall" , "Engage" , "studio assistant" .)