Lever can change direction and bearing (9)
I believe the answer is:
relevance
'bearing' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'lever can change direction' is the wordplay.
'change' indicates anagramming the letters.
'direction' becomes 'e' (E is an example).
'lever'+'can'='levercan'
'levercan' anagrammed gives 'relevanc'.
'relevanc'+'e'='RELEVANCE'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for relevance that I've seen before include "shows importance to the matter in hand" , "Appropriateness" , "Connection to the matter in hand" , "Pertinence to the matter in hand" , "Suitability" .)