Regard tree outside university -- pity top's chopped off (10)
I believe the answer is:
popularity
'regard' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'tree outside university pity top's chopped off' is the wordplay.
'tree' becomes 'poplar' (poplar is a kind of tree**).
'outside' is an insertion indicator.
'university' becomes 'u'.
'top's chopped off' means to remove the first letter.
'poplar' going around 'u' is 'popular'.
'pity' with its initial letter taken away is 'ity'.
'popular'+'ity'='POPULARITY'
(Other definitions for popularity that I've seen before include "Widespread admiration" , "Being widely admired" .)