Quietly uplift with applause (6)
I believe the answer is:
praise
'applause' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'quietly uplift' is the wordplay.
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'uplift' becomes 'raise' (I've seen this before).
'p'+'raise'='PRAISE'
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for praise that I've seen before include "Honour" , "Commend or laud" , "Kudos, pat on the back" , "Eulogise" , "Speak well of" .)