My silly mistake, say, to show deer (3)
I believe the answer is:
doe
'deer' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for doe that I've seen before include "female in the field?" , "female of the species" , "Ode to a female rabbit" , "partner for a buck" , "Ode to a female deer" .)