Universal acclaim for lift (7)
I believe the answer is:
upraise
'lift' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'universal acclaim' is the wordplay.
'universal' becomes 'u'.
'acclaim' becomes 'praise' (I've seen this before).
'u'+'praise'='UPRAISE'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for upraise that I've seen before include "EU pairs (anag) - lift higher" , "Exalt - elevate" , "Erect" .)