Sound made by files was revolting (4)
I believe the answer is:
rose
'was revolting' is the definition.
(to rise up is to revolt)
'sound made by files' is the wordplay.
'sound made by' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'files' becomes 'rows' (a file is a row of squares e.g. on a chess board).
'rows' is a homophone of 'ROSE'.
(Other definitions for rose that I've seen before include "increased in price" , "Gained height" , "grew" , "Flower - girl - got up" , "Moved upwards for the flower" .)