Make hard contact with the thing in question (3)
I believe the answer is:
hit
'make' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'hard contact with the thing in question' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'hard' could be 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications) and 'h' is found within the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'i' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hit that I've seen before include "Successful record/film" , "not to miss!" , "Theatrical success,quite striking" , "Thump" , "recording in the charts" .)