Wound cord before judge (8)
I believe the answer is:
lacerate
'wound' is the definition.
(I know that lacerate is a type of wound)
'cord before judge' is the wordplay.
'cord' becomes 'lace' (lace is a kind of cord).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'judge' becomes 'rate' (rating is a kind of judging).
'lace'+'rate'='LACERATE'
(Other definitions for lacerate that I've seen before include "Tear roughly, cut jaggedly" , "Injure be tearing, wound roughly" , "Tear, rip (flesh or skin)" , "Slash" , "Tear or cut (flesh) deeply" .)