Wound workers up (3)
I believe the answer is:
cut
'wound' is the definition.
(cut is a kind of wound)
'workers up' is the wordplay.
'workers' becomes 'tuc'.
'up' says the letters should be written backwards (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'tuc' in reverse letter order is 'CUT'.
(Other definitions for cut that I've seen before include "Sever; ignore" , "Incision; reduce" , "Slice, chop" , "Reduction; piece of meat" , "Make an incision" .)