Make out deer round Channel Islands pub (8)
I believe the answer is:
decipher
'make out' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'deer round channel islands pub' is the wordplay.
'round' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'channel islands' becomes 'CI'.
'pub' becomes 'ph' (public house).
'ci'+'ph'='ciph'
'deer' placed around 'ciph' is 'DECIPHER'.
(Other definitions for decipher that I've seen before include "Unscramble" , "Break code" , "Work out (text in code)" , "Interpret, solve" , "Convert code to ordinary language" .)