Very wide animal (3)
I believe the answer is:
sow
'animal' is the definition.
(female pig)
'very wide' is the wordplay.
'very' becomes 'so' (both can mean 'extremely').
'wide' becomes 'w' (abbreviation e.g. in cricket).
'so'+'w'='SOW'
(Other definitions for sow that I've seen before include "farm animal" , "swine" , "Female pig" , "Female bear" , "One who takes care of litter" .)