Husky in frost leading empty sledge (6)
I believe the answer is:
hoarse
'husky' is the definition.
(I know that husky can be written as hoarse)
'frost leading empty sledge' is the wordplay.
'frost' becomes 'hoar' (synonyms).
'leading' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'empty' means to remove the middle letters.
'sledge' with its middle taken out is 'se'.
'hoar'+'se'='HOARSE'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for hoarse that I've seen before include "Of voice, rasping or gruff" , "Croaky" , "Of voice, sounding rough" , "With strained voice" , "Raucous" .)