It may be dripping (3)
I believe the answer is:
fat
'be dripping' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'it' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'fa' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'may' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fat that I've seen before include "and 24: Overpaid City type" , "Excess body weight" , "Adipose tissue" , "Overweight, stout" , "Obese, having spare tyre etc" .)