Lift beams, so to speak (5)
I believe the answer is:
raise
'lift' is the definition.
(I know that lift can be written as raise)
'beams so to speak' is the wordplay.
'beams' becomes 'rays' (rays of light).
'so to speak' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'rays' is a homophone of 'RAISE'.
(Other definitions for raise that I've seen before include "More money from America" , "Uplift" , "Bring up - an increase in pay" , "Collect - increase in pay" , "What a poker player might do" .)