Wife ill and crying (7)
I believe the answer is:
wailing
'crying' is the definition.
(wailing is a kind of crying)
'wife ill' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'ill' becomes 'ailing' (similar in meaning).
'w'+'ailing'='WAILING'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for wailing that I've seen before include "Greeting" , "Jerusalem site sacred to Jews for prayer and lamentation" .)