Suffering amateur covering Queen (4)
I believe the answer is:
harm
'suffering' is the definition.
(harm causes suffering)
'amateur covering queen' is the wordplay.
'amateur' becomes 'ham'.
'covering' indicates putting letters inside.
'queen' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for regina, e.g. in ER ).
'ham' placed around 'r' is 'HARM'.
(Other definitions for harm that I've seen before include "Injure or damage" , "Hurt, maim" , "See 13" , "Trials, exams" , "Short-long metric feet" .)