Wind up hearing sound of Northern river (5)
I believe the answer is:
tease
'wind up' is the definition.
(to wind up is to tease or annoy)
'hearing sound of northern river' is the wordplay.
'hearing sound of' shows a homophone (sound like).
'northern river' becomes 'tees' (river in the north east of England).
'tees' sounds like 'TEASE'.
(Other definitions for tease that I've seen before include "Playfully provoke" , "Comb or card (wool)" , "Vex" , "Banter, make gentle fun of" , "Irritate playfully" .)