Maiden hugs assistant (4)
I believe the answer is:
aide
'assistant' is the definition.
(aide is a kind of assistant)
'maiden hugs' is the wordplay.
'hugs' indicates a hidden word (the answer is hugged by letters in the clue).
'AIDE' is hidden within 'maiden'.
(Other definitions for aide that I've seen before include "Assistant to a more senior person" , "Somebody helping" , "Officer in attendance" , "auxiliary" , "someone in assistance" .)