Put off being freed, perhaps (5)
I believe the answer is:
defer
'put off' is the definition.
(I know that put off can be written as defer)
'freed perhaps' is the wordplay.
'perhaps' indicates an anagram.
'freed' is an anagram of 'DEFER'.
'being' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for defer that I've seen before include "stall" , "Yield to another's opinion" , "Play for time" , "Yield to authority" , "Give precedence to" .)