Wood and, in the absence of meat, cranberry jam (7)
I believe the answer is:
cypress
'wood' is the definition.
(I know that cypress is a type of wood)
'the absence of meat cranberry jam' is the wordplay.
'the absence of meat cranberry' becomes 'cy' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'jam' becomes 'press' (synonyms).
'cy'+'press'='CYPRESS'
'and in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cypress that I've seen before include "Evergreen conifer" , "Evergreen, mourning symbol" , "Coniferous tree" , "Evergreen tree" , "Conifer, symbol of mourning" .)