People: great threat (6)
I believe the answer is:
menace
'threat' is the definition.
(I know that threat can be written as menace)
'people great' is the wordplay.
'people' becomes 'men' (men are people).
'great' becomes 'ace' (I've seen this before).
'men'+'ace'='MENACE'
(Other definitions for menace that I've seen before include "Threat or severe nuisance" , "Threat, danger" , "Serious threat" , "A threatening quality" , "Threaten with harm or danger" .)