A rise, perhaps, for an American (5)
I believe the answer is:
raise
'an american' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
'a rise perhaps' is the wordplay.
'perhaps' indicates an anagram.
'a'+'rise'='arise'
'arise' anagrammed gives 'RAISE'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for raise that I've seen before include "Bring up a salary increase" , "Lift - increase" , "Contact" , "rally" , "Wage increase" .)