Ring received by female copper's the centre of interest (5)
I believe the answer is:
focus
'centre of interest' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'ring received by female copper's' is the wordplay.
'ring' becomes 'O' (letter resembling a ring).
'received by' is an insertion indicator.
'female' becomes 'f' (common abbreviation).
'copper's' becomes 'cu's' (chemical symbol).
'f'+'cus'='fcus'
'o' inserted inside 'fcus' is 'FOCUS'.
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for focus that I've seen before include "Maximum clarity of an idea" , "Central point" , "Adjust camera lenses - concentrate" , "Centre of concentration" , "Zoom in (on)" .)