Swallow with a soft cry of pain (5)
I believe the answer is:
pouch
'swallow' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with contact as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'with a soft cry of pain' is the wordplay.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a soft' becomes 'p' (musical abbreviation for 'piano').
'cry of pain' becomes 'ouch' (I've seen this before).
'p' put next to 'ouch' is 'POUCH'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pouch that I've seen before include "Kangaroo's pocket" , "Bag" , "joey's home" , "Container for tobacco or young" , "Marsupial's baby carrier" .)