Plaintive cry when the table breaks (5)
I believe the answer is:
bleat
'plaintive cry' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the table breaks' is the wordplay.
'breaks' indicates anagramming the letters.
'table' with letters rearranged gives 'BLEAT'.
'when' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for bleat that I've seen before include "Complain; sheep's cry" , "Cry of a lamb at table" , "Sound from the fold" , "Sheep's call" , "Cry like a goat" .)