Crossword Genius

Restraining chap, a cold fish (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

manacling

'restraining' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'chap a cold fish' is the wordplay.
'chap' becomes 'man' (chap can mean a man).
'cold fish' becomes 'cling' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'man'+'a'+'cling'='MANACLING'

(Other definitions for manacling that I've seen before include "using restraint" , "Restraining" , "Using handcuffs" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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