Weapon to attempt damage, say (7)
I believe the answer is:
trident
'weapon' is the definition.
(trident is a kind of weapon)
'attempt damage say' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'damage' could be 'dent' (dent is a kind of damage) and 'dent' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for trident that I've seen before include "Pronged spear" , "Submarine-launched ballistic missile" , "Neptune's fork" , "3-pronged spear" , "Submarine missile" .)