Cross following the man's curse (3)
I believe the answer is:
hex
'curse' is the definition.
(I know that curse can be written as hex)
'cross following the man's' is the wordplay.
'cross' becomes 'x' (X is cross-shaped).
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'the man' becomes 'he' (he refers to a man).
'x' after 'he' is 'HEX'.
(Other definitions for hex that I've seen before include "Witch" , "Wicked spell" , "Evil spell" , "Bewitch" , "A magic spell or curse" .)