Iron robot started ambling awkwardly, without shoes (8)
I believe the answer is:
barefoot
'iron' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'robot started ambling awkwardly without shoes' is the wordplay.
'started' suggests taking the first letters.
'awkwardly' indicates an anagram.
'without' indicates putting letters inside ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'shoes' becomes 'ef' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The initial letter of 'ambling' is 'a'.
'robot'+'a'='robota'
'robota' is an anagram of 'baroot'.
'baroot' enclosing 'ef' is 'BAREFOOT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for barefoot that I've seen before include "without protection for lowest members" , "'-------- in the Park', Neil Simon play filmed in 1967 with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford" , "Without shoes and socks" , "Unshod" , "Shoeless" .)