Parry, holding short sword in both hands? (5)
I believe the answer is:
repel
'parry' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'short sword in both hands' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'sword' becomes 'epee' (epee is a kind of sword).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'both hands' becomes 'rl' (**).
'epee' with its last letter taken off is 'epe'.
'epe' placed within 'rl' is 'REPEL'.
'holding' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for repel that I've seen before include "Drive back or away" , "Drive back - revolt" , "Reject" , "Spurn" , "Be effective in controlling" .)