Wretched orphan bearing old weapon (7)
I believe the answer is:
harpoon
'weapon' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'wretched orphan bearing old' is the wordplay.
'wretched' indicates an anagram.
'bearing' indicates putting letters inside.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'orphan' is an anagram of 'harpon'.
'harpon' going around 'o' is 'HARPOON'.
(Other definitions for harpoon that I've seen before include "Spear used in hunting whales" , "Spear for old whaler" , "object of whaling industry?" , "Barbed whaling spear" , "Lance" .)