Quiet noble's short cut (5)
I believe the answer is:
shear
'cut' is the definition.
(I know that cut is a is a kind of of shear)
'quiet noble's short' is the wordplay.
'quiet' becomes 'sh' ('sh' is used to tell someone to be quiet).
'noble' becomes 'earl' (earl is a kind of noble).
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'earl' with its final letter removed is 'ear'.
'sh'+'ear'='SHEAR'
(Other definitions for shear that I've seen before include "Remove a fleece" , "Fleece (a sheep)" , "strain" , "Cut with clippers" , "Cut sheep's woll with large scissors" .)