Peeled fruit to bring to bear (5)
I believe the answer is:
range
'to bear' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to thinking as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'peeled fruit' is the wordplay.
'peeled' means to look at the middle letters (outer letters are peeled off).
'fruit' becomes 'oranges' (oranges are a type of fruit).
The middle letters of 'oranges' are 'RANGE'.
'to bring' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for range that I've seen before include "Series, of mountains perhaps" , "Variety; scope" , "Series of hills or mountains" , "Cooking appliance" , "Full choice of clothes" .)