Work with cut linen (4)
I believe the answer is:
toil
'work' is the definition.
(toiling is a kind of working)
'cut linen' is the wordplay.
'cut' means to remove the last letter.
'linen' becomes 'toile' (I've seen this in another clue).
'toile' with its last letter taken off is 'TOIL'.
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for toil that I've seen before include "Work really hard" , "Hard physical work" , "Work hard and long" , "Work hard, labour" , "Manual labour" .)