Stand close, anticipating river (6)
I believe the answer is:
endure
'stand' is the definition.
('endure' can be a synonym of 'stand')
'close anticipating river' is the wordplay.
'close' becomes 'end' (I've seen this before).
'anticipating' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'river' becomes 'ure' (I have seen 'River of Wensleydale ' mean 'ure' so perhaps 'river' could also mean 'ure').
'end'+'ure'='ENDURE'
(Other definitions for endure that I've seen before include "Last or undergo" , "Stand" , "Suffer, tolerate" , "Put up with or withstand" , "'Last, bear (6)'" .)