Lax female, the Parisian caught by detectives (7)
I believe the answer is:
flaccid
'lax' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'female the parisian caught by detectives' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'the parisian' becomes 'la' (French for the).
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation**).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'detectives' becomes 'cid'.
'f'+'la'+'c'+'cid'='FLACCID'
(Other definitions for flaccid that I've seen before include "Slack" , "Droopy" , "Lax" , "Limp, flabby" , "Drooping, soft" .)