Husband trapped by waters beginning to rise is cut off (5)
I believe the answer is:
shear
'is cut off' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'husband trapped by waters beginning to rise' is the wordplay.
'husband' becomes 'h' (abbreviation).
'trapped by' is an insertion indicator.
'waters' becomes 'sea' (the sea is water).
'beginning to' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'rise' is 'r'.
'h' put into 'sea' is 'shea'.
'shea'+'r'='SHEAR'
(Other definitions for shear that I've seen before include "strain" , "Remove sheep's wool" , "Cut sheep's woll with large scissors" , "Fleece (a sheep)" , "shave" .)