Loving wife to prepare for conflict (4)
I believe the answer is:
warm
'loving' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'wife to prepare for conflict' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'to prepare for conflict' becomes 'arm' (I've seen this in another clue).
'w'+'arm'='WARM'
(Other definitions for warm that I've seen before include "Lively" , "Approaching target" , "Heated; enthusiastic" , "Near to finding hidden object" , "Animated" .)