Search, say, overturned affliction (7)
I believe the answer is:
scourge
'affliction' is the definition.
(I know that scourge is a type of affliction)
'search say overturned' is the wordplay.
'search' becomes 'scour' (scouring is a kind of searching).
'say' becomes 'eg' (both can mean for example).
'overturned' is a reversal indicator.
'eg' backwards is 'ge'.
'scour'+'ge'='SCOURGE'
(Other definitions for scourge that I've seen before include "Whip - bane" , "Punish severely" , "torment" , "Curse; whip" , "Flagellate" .)