Short cut finds fuel (3)
I believe the answer is:
gas
'fuel' is the definition.
(gas is a kind of fuel)
'short cut' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'cut' becomes 'gash' (a gash is a wound or cut).
'gash' with its final letter taken off is 'GAS'.
'finds' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for gas that I've seen before include "Gossip" , "Nitrogen, say" , "What's needed to drive" , "Hydrogen or methane, say" , "Something exciting" .)