You need room to swing one (3)
I believe the answer is:
cat
'one' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cat that I've seen before include "Animal; converter; boat" , "Feline - whip" , "An old whip with nine tails" , "Feline mammel" , "Animal - one with nine tails!" .)