Silence wife and husband first (5)
I believe the answer is:
whist
'silence' is the definition.
(historical term used to demand silence)
'wife and husband first' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'husband' becomes 'h'.
'first' becomes 'ist' (ist resembles 1st).
'w'+'h'+'ist'='WHIST'
(Other definitions for whist that I've seen before include "Tricky card game" , "Demand silence" , "Card game, often played at a "drive"" , "Card-game" , "Old card game" .)