Male's platform cut short (4)
I believe the answer is:
stag
'male's' is the definition.
(a stag is a male deer)
'platform cut short' is the wordplay.
'platform' becomes 'stage-' (stage is a kind of platform).
'cut short' means to remove the last letter.
'stage' with its last letter taken off is 'STAG'.
(Other definitions for stag that I've seen before include "Antlered beast" , "Stock market speculator" , "Sort of party" , "in a rut, perhaps?" , "Game - speculator" .)