Verse lad composed showed excessive obsequiousness (8)
I believe the answer is:
slavered
'showed excessive obsequiousness' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I can't see how one could define the other.
'verse lad composed' is the wordplay.
'composed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'verse'+'lad'='verselad'
'verselad' is an anagram of 'SLAVERED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for slavered that I've seen before include "Dribbled saliva from mouth like savage dog" , "Foamed at the mouth, or drooled over" , "showed excessive desire" .)