Keep, as opposed to dish out (8)
I believe the answer is:
conserve
'keep' is the definition.
(conserving is a kind of keeping)
'opposed to dish out' is the wordplay.
'opposed' becomes 'con' (I've seen this before).
'to dish out' becomes 'serve' ('serve' can be a synonym of 'dish out').
'con'+'serve'='CONSERVE'
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for conserve that I've seen before include "Save (eg energy)" , "Protect; maintain" , "Jam made from fresh fruit and sugar" , "Keep - jam" , "Protect from destruction" .)