Irritation card game is cut short (5)
I believe the answer is:
pique
'irritation' is the definition.
(I know that irritation can be written as pique)
'card game is cut short' is the wordplay.
'card game' becomes 'piquet' (piquet is a kind of card game).
'is cut short' means to remove the last letter.
'piquet' with its last letter taken off is 'PIQUE'.
(Other definitions for pique that I've seen before include "nark" , "Irritation, resentment" , "Stimulate (one's curiosity)" , "Resentful feeling" , "Stimulate (someone's interest)" .)