Desire to solve cryptic without thesaurus - finally! (4)
I believe the answer is:
love
'desire' is the definition.
(romantic desire)
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
(Other definitions for love that I've seen before include "On court, zero" , "powerful emotion" , "Romantic feeling" , ""Tell me the truth about ___" (Auden)" , "Disappointing score" .)