State dollars get old rope (5)
I believe the answer is:
lasso
'rope' is the definition.
(I know that rope can be written as lasso)
'state dollars get old' is the wordplay.
'state' becomes 'la' (abbreviation for Louisiana).
'dollars' becomes 'ss' (two S's - S resembles the dollar symbol).
'get' says to put letters next to each other.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'la'+'ss'+'o'='LASSO'
(Other definitions for lasso that I've seen before include "Ling-nosed rope" , "One may be caught by this" , "Rope for a cowboy" , "which may be catching" , "Rancher's rope" .)