Mother loses youth but gets some compensation (7)
I believe the answer is:
damages
'some compensation' is the definition.
(damages is a kind of compensation)
'mother loses youth' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'dam' (female parent of an animal).
'loses youth' becomes 'ages'.
'dam'+'ages'='DAMAGES'
'but gets' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for damages that I've seen before include "Harms" , "Hurts" , "Money paid in compensation for loss or injury" , "Money awarded as compensation" , "Moneys paid as compensation for an injury" .)