Thin echo emerging from dark wood (4)
I believe the answer is:
bony
'thin' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'echo emerging from dark wood' is the wordplay.
'echo' becomes 'e' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'emerging from' is a deletion indicator.
'dark wood' becomes 'ebony' (I've seen this in another clue).
'ebony' with 'e' taken out is 'BONY'.
(Other definitions for bony that I've seen before include "Skeletal" , "Osseous" , "[GAUNT] ?" , "Scrawny" , "Angular" .)