Refusal is beginning to elicit uproar (5)
I believe the answer is:
noise
'uproar' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'refusal is beginning to elicit' is the wordplay.
'refusal' becomes 'no' (saying no to something).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'elicit' is 'e'.
'no'+'is'+'e'='NOISE'
(Other definitions for noise that I've seen before include "Sound of any kind" , "Clamour" , "Rumour" , "Public talk" , "Excessive sound" .)