Make attractive lady with PhD and energy empty skips (5)
I believe the answer is:
dress
'make attractive lady' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.
'phd and energy empty skips' is the wordplay.
'phd' becomes 'dr' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'energy' becomes 'e' (physics symbol as in E=mcr).
'empty' suggests removing the centre.
'skips' with its middle removed is 'ss'.
'dr'+'e'+'ss'='DRESS'
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dress that I've seen before include "Frock" , "For display, arrange" , "Apparel" , "Do some cover work in theatre" , "Shift" .)