Hope to climb a steeple (6)
I believe the answer is:
aspire
'hope' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a steeple' is the wordplay.
'steeple' becomes 'spire' (synonyms).
'a'+'spire'='ASPIRE'
'to climb' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aspire that I've seen before include "Have hopes (to achieve something)" , "Seek (to do something)" , "Aim, have an ambitious plan" , "Have ambitious plans for" , "Have a strong desire to achieve something" .)