Short, high quality poles might hold them (8)
I believe the answer is:
curtains
'might hold them' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'short high quality poles' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'short' could be 'curt' (synonyms) and 'curt' is located in the answer.
'poles' could be 'ns' (North and South poles) and 'ns' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ai' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for curtains that I've seen before include "Hanging cloths" , "Window drapes in slangy ending" , "Death (slang)" , "theatre equipment!" , "Hanging drapes" .)