Lace set in short knickers, like one hanging in there (7)
I believe the answer is:
patient
'like one hanging in there' is the definition.
(to hang in there is to be patient)
'lace set in short knickers' is the wordplay.
'lace' becomes 'tie' (I've seen this before).
'set in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'knickers' becomes 'pants' (synonyms).
'pants' with its last letter taken away is 'pant'.
'tie' going within 'pant' is 'PATIENT'.
(Other definitions for patient that I've seen before include "doctor's client" , "Cool" , "Calmly enduring like hospital inmate" , "one receiving medical treatment" , "Uncomplaining; invalid" .)