Son to take out gift (5)
I believe the answer is:
skill
'gift' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'son to take out' is the wordplay.
'son' becomes 's'.
'to take out' becomes 'kill' (killing is a kind of taking out).
's'+'kill'='SKILL'
(Other definitions for skill that I've seen before include "Talent" , "Special ability" , "Prowess" , "Expertise; art" , "Craft; dexterity" .)