Praises former wife possibly lost (6)
I believe the answer is:
extols
'praises' is the definition.
(extolling is a kind of praising)
'former wife possibly lost' is the wordplay.
'former wife' becomes 'ex' (an ex-wife).
'possibly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'lost' is an anagram of 'tols'.
'ex'+'tols'='EXTOLS'
(Other definitions for extols that I've seen before include "Praises highly, lauds" , "Enthusiastically praises" , "Sings the praises of" , "'Praises, lauds (6)'" .)