Lean on the French ship, exhausted (8)
I believe the answer is:
listless
'exhausted' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'lean on the french ship' is the wordplay.
'lean' becomes 'list' (both can mean to tilt).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'list'+'le'+'ss'='LISTLESS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for listless that I've seen before include "Lacking enthusiasm or energy" , "(unlike Ko-Ko)" , "Lacking energy or vitality" , "Without energy or vitality" , "Devoid of energy or concern" .)