Male short leg (4)
I believe the answer is:
stag
'male' is the definition.
(a stag is a male deer)
'short leg' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'leg' becomes 'stage' (synonyms).
'stage' with its final letter removed is 'STAG'.
(Other definitions for stag that I've seen before include "Male beast" , "involving men" , "Hart" , "speculator wanting quick profit" , "Antlered beast" .)