Pole, quiet, near the back (5)
I believe the answer is:
shaft
'pole' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'quiet near the back' is the wordplay.
'quiet' becomes 'sh'.
'near the' says to put letters next to each other.
'back' becomes 'aft' ('aft' is associated in meaning with 'back'**).
'sh'+'aft'='SHAFT'
(Other definitions for shaft that I've seen before include "Mine access; handle" , "Stem, handle; (light) ray" , "Ray of light; spear" , "Ray (of sunlight)" , "Vertical mine access" .)