Surprise beginning by the French (7)
I believe the answer is:
startle
'surprise' is the definition.
(to startle someone is to surprise or shock them)
'beginning by the french' is the wordplay.
'beginning' becomes 'start' (synonyms).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'start'+'le'='STARTLE'
(Other definitions for startle that I've seen before include "Make jump" , "Shock, alarm" , "Alarm (someone)" , "Frighten suddenly" , "Surprise with starlet" .)