Small pixie holding up without needing help (4-10)

'up without needing help' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'small pixie holding' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is found within the answer.
'pixie' could be 'elf' (synonyms) and 'elf' is present in the answer.
'holding' could be 'supporting' ('support' can be a synonym of 'hold') and 'supporting' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?