Carpets are best beaten (7)
I believe the answer is:
berates
'carpets' is the definition.
(carpet can informally mean to criticise)
'are best beaten' is the wordplay.
'beaten' indicates an anagram.
'are'+'best'='arebest'
'arebest' is an anagram of 'BERATES'.
(Other definitions for berates that I've seen before include "is a scold" , "Scolds" , "Upbraids" .)