Mother allowed to hold large tool (6)
I believe the answer is:
mallet
'tool' is the definition.
(I know that mallet is a type of tool)
'mother allowed to hold large' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (Ma is another word for mother or mum).
'allowed to' becomes 'let' (to let something happen is to allow it).
'hold' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'large' becomes 'L' (eg in clothes sizes).
'let' placed around 'l' is 'llet'.
'ma'+'llet'='MALLET'
(Other definitions for mallet that I've seen before include "Croquet stick" , "Kind of hammer used in polo" , "Hitting tool" , "Wooden hammer used in croquet" , "Large hammer with wooden head" .)