Short cut from Battersea! (5)
I believe the answer is:
terse
'short' is the definition.
(terse can mean short or brusque)
'cut from battersea' is the wordplay.
'cut from' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (the answer is cut out of the clue).
'TERSE' can be found hidden inside 'battersea'.
(Other definitions for terse that I've seen before include "Curtly brief" , "Succinct about trees" , "Aphoristic" , "Crisply brief" , "Using few words" .)