Manage awkward dame OK (4,2)
I believe the answer is:
make do
'manage' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'awkward dame ok' is the wordplay.
'awkward' indicates an anagram.
'dame'+'ok'='dameok'
'dameok' anagrammed gives 'MAKE DO'.
(Other definitions for make do that I've seen before include "to get to social event" , "attend function" , "Manage with. even if not satisfactory" , "Cope" , "'Manage with limited means (4,2)'" .)