Trade lawyer disheartened (6)
I believe the answer is:
barter
'trade' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'lawyer disheartened' is the wordplay.
'lawyer' becomes 'barrister' (barrister is a kind of lawyer).
'disheartened' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'barrister' with its middle removed is 'BARTER'.
(Other definitions for barter that I've seen before include "Trade not involving money" , "Trade by direct exchange of goods" , "Trade, haggle" , "Exchange goods without using money" , "Exchange, bargain" .)