The old man getting exploited had a breather (6)
I believe the answer is:
paused
'had a breather' is the definition.
(to have a breather is to take a pause)
'the old man getting exploited' is the wordplay.
'the old man' becomes 'pa' (both can mean father).
'getting' says to put letters next to each other.
'exploited' becomes 'used' (synonyms).
'pa'+'used'='PAUSED'
(Other definitions for paused that I've seen before include "Stopped temporarily or hesitated" , "Ceased temporarily" , "Waited a moment" , "Hesitated, stopped briefly" .)