Shade perhaps meant to cover silver (7)
I believe the answer is:
magenta
'shade' is the definition.
(magenta is a shade of purple)
'perhaps meant to cover silver' is the wordplay.
'perhaps' is an anagram indicator.
'to cover' is an insertion indicator.
'silver' becomes 'Ag' (Ag is the chemical symbol for silver).
'meant' with letters rearranged gives 'menta'.
'menta' placed around 'ag' is 'MAGENTA'.
(Other definitions for magenta that I've seen before include "Light mauvish-crimson" , "Deep purplish red" , "fuchsia" , "Name tag (anag) - colour" , "A crimson dye" .)