Praise army officer after cut back (5)
I believe the answer is:
exalt
'praise' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'army officer after cut back' is the wordplay.
'army officer' becomes 'lt' (I've seen this in other clues).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'cut' becomes 'axe' (I've seen this before).
'back' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'axe' written backwards gives 'exa'.
'lt' after 'exa' is 'EXALT'.
(Other definitions for exalt that I've seen before include "Laud" , "Promote" , "Extol" , "Honour - raise up" , "Raise high, glorify" .)