Sharp new copper held in grip (5-3)
I believe the answer is:
clean-cut
'sharp' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'new copper held in grip' is the wordplay.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'copper' becomes 'cu' (Cu is the chemical symbol for copper).
'held in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'grip' becomes 'cleat' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'n'+'cu'='ncu'
'ncu' going within 'cleat' is 'CLEAN-CUT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clean-cut that I've seen before include "Tidy and respectable" , "Well groomed" , "With a neat, respectable appearance" , "Sharply-outlined" , "Appearing neat and respectable (of a man)" .)