Young ladies or dames in trouble (7)
I believe the answer is:
maidens
'young ladies' is the definition.
(maiden is a kind of young lady)
'dames in trouble' is the wordplay.
'trouble' indicates anagramming the letters.
'dames'+'in'='damesin'
'damesin' with letters rearranged gives 'MAIDENS'.
'or' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for maidens that I've seen before include "Girls in general..." , "one can't score off" , "More than one girl" , "bowlers like?" , "Females" .)