Keeping reserved seats unoccupied for lectures (6)
I believe the answer is:
scolds
'lectures' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'keeping reserved seats unoccupied' is the wordplay.
'keeping' indicates putting letters inside.
'reserved' becomes 'cold' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'unoccupied' suggests removing the centre (remove the inside letters which occupy the word).
'seats' with its centre taken out is 'ss'.
'cold' going within 'ss' is 'SCOLDS'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scolds that I've seen before include "Chides, reprimands" , "Reprimands, tells off harshly" , "Censures, berates" , "Berates, reproves" , "Nags - naggers" .)