Policeman holding hot piece of meat (4)
I believe the answer is:
chop
'piece of meat' is the definition.
(e.g. a lamb chop)
'policeman holding hot' is the wordplay.
'policeman' becomes 'cop' (slang term).
'holding' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'hot' becomes 'h' (abbreviation, eg on taps).
'cop' enclosing 'h' is 'CHOP'.
(Other definitions for chop that I've seen before include "Chinese seal" , "Small cut of meat" , "Cut by blow of axe" , "Karate punch" , "Thick slice of meat, often with rib" .)