Shampoo and cut for receding husband (4)
I believe the answer is:
wash
'shampoo' is the definition.
(I know that shampoo is a more specific form of the action the wash)
'cut for receding husband' is the wordplay.
'cut for receding' becomes 'was' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'husband' becomes 'h' (abbreviation).
'was'+'h'='WASH'
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wash that I've seen before include "Cancelled event - utter failure" , "wake" , "shower" , "Be credible" , "bath" .)