The French lay back for break (3-2)
I believe the answer is:
let-up
'break' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the french lay back' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'lay' becomes 'put' (both can mean to position or place something).
'back' is a reversal indicator.
'put' reversed gives 'tup'.
'le'+'tup'='LET-UP'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for let-up that I've seen before include "Pause in intensity" , "Respite, relief" , "Relieving pause" , "Decline" , "Pause, temporary respite" .)