Beams at small distances (6)
I believe the answer is:
smiles
'beams' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'at small distances' is the wordplay.
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'distances' becomes 'miles' (I've seen this in another clue).
's'+'miles' is 'SMILES'.
(Other definitions for smiles that I've seen before include "expresses pleasure" , "Shows signs of pleasure or amusement" , "Beams, grins" , "Facial expressions showing pleasure" , "Gives visible sign of pleasure" .)