Object to: “Skinny, with a long tail” (5)
I believe the answer is:
thing
'object' is the definition.
(thing is a kind of object)
'skinny with a long tail' is the wordplay.
'skinny' becomes 'thin' ('thin' can be similar in meaning to 'skinny').
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'tail' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'long' is 'g'.
'thin'+'g'='THING'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for thing that I've seen before include "Affair - matter" , "Inanimate object" , "Object; gadget" , "Article" , "Night (anag)" .)