Wind up, containers knocked over (4)
I believe the answer is:
stop
'wind up' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'containers knocked over' is the wordplay.
'containers' becomes 'pots' (pot is a kind of container).
'knocked over' is a reversal indicator.
'pots' backwards is 'STOP'.
(Other definitions for stop that I've seen before include "Intercept" , "Prevent - desist" , "Stay" , "Finished" , "Pause - prevent" .)