Scatter cream on wife (7)
I believe the answer is:
bestrew
'scatter' is the definition.
(I know that scatter can be written as bestrew)
'cream on wife' is the wordplay.
'cream' becomes 'best' (I've seen this before).
'on' becomes 're' ('on' can be mean 'with reference to').
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'best'+'re'+'w'='BESTREW'
(Other definitions for bestrew that I've seen before include "Scatter about, litter" , "Scatter around as by Webster" , "Cover with" , "Lie scattered over (a surface) (literary)" , "Distribute" .)