Ring English knight and odd cleric (8)
I believe the answer is:
encircle
'ring' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'english knight and odd cleric' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'knight' becomes 'n' (chess abbreviation).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'odd' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cleric' anagrammed gives 'circle'.
'e'+'n'+'circle'='ENCIRCLE'
(Other definitions for encircle that I've seen before include "Ring round" , "Surround" , "Contain" .)