Kept short socks, initially coloured (7)
I believe the answer is:
stinted
'kept' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with ownership as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'socks initially coloured' is the wordplay.
'socks initially' becomes 's' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'coloured' becomes 'tinted' (similar in meaning).
's'+'tinted'='STINTED'
'short' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for stinted that I've seen is " Was ungenerous (in supply)".)