Odd bits of speech dry (3)
I believe the answer is:
sec
'dry' is the definition.
('dry' in French - used for wine)
'odd bits of speech' is the wordplay.
'odd bits of' indicates alternate letters.
The alternating letters of 'speech' are 'SEC'.
(Other definitions for sec that I've seen before include "period not lasting long" , "Dry wine perhaps" , "Dry, like wine" , "sort of function" , "'Dry, as wine (3)'" .)