See copper, male officer standing in? (5)
I believe the answer is:
locum
'officer standing in?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'see copper male' is the wordplay.
'see' becomes 'lo' (archaic exclamation meaning 'look!').
'copper' becomes 'Cu' (Cu is the chemical symbol for copper).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'lo'+'cu'+'m'='LOCUM'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for locum that I've seen before include "Medical temp?" , "Physician's stand-in" , "Deputising doctor" , "One standing in" , "Professional who stands in for another" .)