Pale sort of caper (4)
I believe the answer is:
leap
'caper' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'pale sort' is the wordplay.
'sort' indicates an anagram.
'pale' is an anagram of 'LEAP'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for leap that I've seen before include "Jump across" , "Abrupt change; spring" , "Sudden surge" , "some years?" , "Jump; type of year" .)