Father held back by mother, I see (4)
I believe the answer is:
sire
'father' is the definition.
(I know that father can be written as sire)
'held back by mother i see' is the wordplay.
'back by' is a reversal indicator.
'held' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'eris' is hidden within 'mother i see'.
'eris' backwards is 'SIRE'.
(Other definitions for sire that I've seen before include "Male parent of an animal" , "Stallion; beget" , "Generator" , "Foal's father" , "Bear" .)