Pale female in pain cutting the odds (5)
I believe the answer is:
ashen
'pale' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'female in pain cutting the odds' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'female' could be 'she' ('she' refers to a woman) and 'she' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'an' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ashen that I've seen before include "White" , "Pale in complexion" , "Greyish" , "Like bird" , "Having gone pale" .)