I and a friend take it in to copy (7)
I believe the answer is:
imitate
'to copy' is the definition.
('imitate' can be a synonym of 'copy')
'i and a friend take it' is the wordplay.
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'a friend' becomes 'mate' (mate is a kind of friend**).
'take' is an insertion indicator.
'mate' going around 'it' is 'mitate'.
'i'+'mitate'='IMITATE'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for imitate that I've seen before include "Copy (mannerisms)" , "Parrot" , "Copy or mimic" , "Mimic or follow as a model" , "I tame it (anag)" .)