When picked up, character leaves (3)
I believe the answer is:
tea
'leaves' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'when picked up character' is the wordplay.
'when picked up' shows a homophone (sound like).
'character' becomes 't'.
't' sounds like 'TEA'.
(Other definitions for tea that I've seen before include "leaves much to be desired?" , "Early evening meal" , "Tisane" , "Evening meal - eat up" , "Food" .)