Metal held by female is deceptive (8)
I believe the answer is:
misleads
'is deceptive' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'metal held by female' is the wordplay.
'metal' becomes 'lead' (lead is a kind of metal).
'held by' indicates putting letters inside.
'female' becomes 'miss' (miss can refer to a woman).
'lead' inserted within 'miss' is 'MISLEADS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for misleads that I've seen before include "Deceives or sends in wrong direction" , "Gives false information to" , "Directs wrongly" , "Sends astray or gives false impression to" , "Wrongly advises" .)