The round of house work? (4)
I believe the answer is:
hoop
'the round' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'house work?' is the wordplay.
'house' becomes 'ho' (abbreviation for house).
'work?' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus).
'ho'+'op'='HOOP'
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for hoop that I've seen before include "Rigid circular band" , "children's toy" , "Circle, ring" , "Ring of wood - arch at croquet" , "Circular band, in basketball, say" .)