Vessel drained, did you say? (4)
I believe the answer is:
pail
'vessel' is the definition.
(I know that pail is a type of vessel)
'drained did you say?' is the wordplay.
'drained' becomes 'pale' (I've seen this in another clue).
'did you say?' shows a homophone (sound like).
'pale' is a homophone of 'PAIL'.
(Other definitions for pail that I've seen before include "Kind of bucket - ask Jack and Jill" , "water-carrier" , "Milkmaid's bucket?" , "Open-topped container" , "Cylindrical vessel" .)