Provokes three cardinals admitting sex (9)
I believe the answer is:
engenders
'provokes' is the definition.
'three cardinals admitting sex' is the wordplay.
'three cardinals' becomes 'ens'.
'admitting' is an insertion indicator.
'sex' becomes 'gender' (synonyms).
'ens' going around 'gender' is 'ENGENDERS'.
(Other definitions for engenders that I've seen before include "Produces, causes" , "Gives rise to, causes" , "Brings forth, generates" , "Leads to" .)