Managed fish, eating gutted plaice (5)
I believe the answer is:
coped
'managed' is the definition.
('cope' can be a synonym of 'manage')
'fish eating gutted plaice' is the wordplay.
'fish' becomes 'cod' (cod is a kind of fish**).
'eating' is an insertion indicator.
'gutted' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (to gut something is to remove its insides).
'plaice' with its centre removed is 'pe'.
'cod' placed around 'pe' is 'COPED'.
(Other definitions for coped that I've seen before include "Rose to the occasion" , "Made the grade" , "wearing vestment" , "Handled" , "Managed, got by" .)