Remove coat, translucent by the sound of it? (5)
I believe the answer is:
shear
'remove coat' is the definition.
'translucent by the sound of it?' is the wordplay.
'translucent' becomes 'sheer'.
'by the sound of it?' shows a homophone (sound like).
'sheer' is a homophone of 'SHEAR'.
(Other definitions for shear that I've seen before include "Cutter" , "Barber" , "Cut with clippers" , "strain" , "Fleece; cut" .)