The cockney kept the female in captivity in the wood (5)
I believe the answer is:
elder
'captivity in the wood' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'the cockney kept the female' is the wordplay.
'the cockney kept' becomes 'eld' ('held' - I've seen this before - said with the 'H' dropped - a cockney accent.).
'the female' becomes 'er' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'eld'+'er'='ELDER'
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for elder that I've seen before include "Senior - presbyter" , "Berry-bearing shrub" , "comparatively aged" , "Senior type of tree?" , "First-born" .)