Toady shaving head and beard (3)
I believe the answer is:
awn
'beard' is the definition.
(both can mean a growth on plants)
'toady shaving head and' is the wordplay.
'shaving' indicates the central letters (the outside letters are shaved off).
'head' becomes 'w' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'and' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and').
The centre of 'toady' is 'a'.
'a'+'w'+'n'='AWN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for awn that I've seen before include "Bristle on grass spikelet" , "Bristly head of barley sheath, quite wan" , "Bristle-like appendage on grass" , "Bristle in flowering part of some grasses" , "Bristles" .)