Hit male put on small bandages (7)
I believe the answer is:
swathes
'bandages' is the definition.
(swathe is a kind of bandage)
'hit male put on small' is the wordplay.
'hit' becomes 'swat' (swatting is a kind of hitting).
'male' becomes 'he' (he refers to a man).
'put on' says to put letters next to each other.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'swat'+'he'+'s'='SWATHES'
(Other definitions for swathes that I've seen before include "Bandages" , "may be cut through" .)