Expensive daughter needs attention! (4)
I believe the answer is:
dear
'expensive' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'daughter needs attention' is the wordplay.
'daughter' becomes 'd'.
'needs' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'attention' becomes 'ear' (ear is a kind of attention).
'd'+'ear'='DEAR'
(Other definitions for dear that I've seen before include "Expensive; sweet" , "Overpriced" , "Darling" , "polite form of address" , "Baby" .)