Pay attention: after nip, as it were, I burn (3,4,4,4)
I believe the answer is:
pin back ones ears
'pay attention' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'nip as it were i burn' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'nip' is 'pin' which is within the answer.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is located in the answer.
'i' could be 'a' and 'a' is located in the answer.
'burn' could be 'sear' (I've seen this before) and 'sear' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'after' is the link.
(Another definition for pin back ones ears that I've seen is " Pay attention".)