Kept jam by top of drawer (9)
I believe the answer is:
preserved
'kept' is the definition.
(preserving is a kind of keeping)
'jam by top of drawer' is the wordplay.
'jam' becomes 'preserve' (jam is a type of preserve).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'top of' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'drawer' is 'd'.
'preserve'+'d'='PRESERVED'
(Other definitions for preserved that I've seen before include "Prevented from decaying or spoiling" , "Prevented from decay" , "Kept safe from harm" , "Maintained in an unaltered condition" , "Kept in an unaltered condition" .)