Put it on and stay to support mother (8)
I believe the answer is:
malinger
'put it on' is the definition.
(to malinger is to pretend to be ill or 'put it on')
'stay to support mother' is the wordplay.
'stay' becomes 'linger' (lingering is a kind of staying).
'to support' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters hold up others).
'mother' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mother).
'linger' after 'ma' is 'MALINGER'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for malinger that I've seen before include "Germinal (anag.)" , "Loaf or procrastinate" , "Skive by pretending to be ill" , "Slack in germinal fashion" , "To shirk work" .)