Subordinate to remain without water, close to death (7)
I believe the answer is:
beneath
'subordinate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'remain without water close to death' is the wordplay.
'remain' becomes 'be' (I've seen this in other clues).
'without water' becomes 'neat' (I've seen this before).
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close/ending of).
The final letter of 'death' is 'h'.
'be'+'neat'+'h'='BENEATH'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for beneath that I've seen before include "Unbefitting" , "Inferior to" , "in a lower position" , "Directly under" , "At a lower place" .)