Say the chaps broke into (7)
I believe the answer is:
mention
'say' is the definition.
(mentioning is a kind of saying)
'chaps broke into' is the wordplay.
'chaps' becomes 'men' (chap means a man).
'broke' is an anagram indicator.
'into' with letters rearranged gives 'tion'.
'men'+'tion'='MENTION'
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for mention that I've seen before include "Acknowledge" , "Passing reference" , "Speak of - refer to" , "Briefly refer to (something)" , "state" .)