The entertainer accepts one for a lift (5)
I believe the answer is:
hoist
'a lift' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'the entertainer accepts one' is the wordplay.
'the entertainer' becomes 'host' (host is a kind of entertainer**).
'accepts' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'host' enclosing 'i' is 'HOIST'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for hoist that I've seen before include "Lift up; device for this" , "elevator" , "Give a lift" , "Jack" , "Device for lifting, often attached to 5 down" .)