Leading carol singers around here get three with applause. (6)
I believe the answer is:
cheers
'applause' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'leading carol singers around here get' is the wordplay.
'leading' indicates taking the first letters.
'around' indicates anagramming the letters.
'get' is an insertion indicator.
The initial letters of 'carol singers' is 'cs'.
'here' with letters rearranged gives 'heer'.
'cs' going around 'heer' is 'CHEERS'.
'three with' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cheers that I've seen before include "Good health!" , "Praises < eggs on" , "Comforts" , "Bottoms up; thanks" , "Ta - ta-ta" .)