Kept down the work when urged to (9)
I believe the answer is:
oppressed
'kept' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'down the work when urged to' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'down' could be 'd' and 'd' is found in the answer.
'work' could be 'press' (press is a kind of work) and 'press' is located in the answer.
'when' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'op' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oppressed that I've seen before include "Governed harshly, weighed down" , "Worried or subjugated" , "Persecuted, burdened" , "Gave too much weight to" , "Tormented" .)