Name behind hand puppet (4)
I believe the answer is:
pawn
'puppet' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'name behind hand' is the wordplay.
'name' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation e.g. on forms).
'behind' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'hand' becomes 'paw' ('paw' can be a synonym of 'hand').
'n' put after 'paw' is 'PAWN'.
(Other definitions for pawn that I've seen before include "piece on board" , "Hostage; chessman" , "Deposit as security for a loan" , "To pop, hock" , "One getting used" .)