See Cinders in transformation (7)
I believe the answer is:
discern
'see' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'cinders in transformation' is the wordplay.
'in transformation' is an anagram indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
'cinders' anagrammed gives 'DISCERN'.
(Other definitions for discern that I've seen before include "Cinders (anag)" , "Detect" , "Make out, distinguish by eye" , "Pick out" , "See" .)