Want the French to get wind up (6)
I believe the answer is:
needle
'wind up' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'want the french' is the wordplay.
'want' becomes 'need' ('need' can be a synonym of 'want').
'the french' becomes 'le'.
'need'+'le'='NEEDLE'
'to get' is the link.
(Other definitions for needle that I've seen before include "Movable bar in a compass" , "spur" , "Wind up" , "Provocation" , "Annoy - syringe" .)