Old iron used around American state (8)
I believe the answer is:
foregone
'old' is the definition.
(foregone can mean past)
'iron used around american state' is the wordplay.
'iron' becomes 'Fe' (Fe is the chemical symbol for iron).
'used around' indicates putting letters inside.
'american state' becomes 'Oregon' (Oregon is an example).
'fe' placed around 'oregon' is 'FOREGONE'.
(Other definitions for foregone that I've seen before include "given up" , "A conclusion may be this" , "Eschewed" , "Such a conclusion is easily predictable" , "This conclusion can be anticipated" .)