Pushes softly with sticks (5)
I believe the answer is:
prods
'pushes' is the definition.
(prodding is a kind of pushing)
'softly with sticks' is the wordplay.
'softly' becomes 'p' (short for piano, musical term for softly).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'sticks' becomes 'rods' (I've seen this in another clue).
'p'+'rods'='PRODS'
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