Bad man with bad deed cut short American’s ride (8)
I believe the answer is:
cadillac
'short american's ride' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'bad man with bad deed cut' is the wordplay.
'bad man' becomes 'cad' (I have seen 'Dishonourable man ' mean 'cad' so perhaps 'man' could also mean 'cad'. I am not sure about the 'bad' bit.).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'bad' becomes 'ill' (similar in meaning).
'deed' becomes 'act' (an action).
'cut' means to remove the last letter.
'act' with its final letter taken off is 'ac'.
'cad'+'ill'+'ac'='CADILLAC'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cadillac that I've seen before include "American brand of luxury car" , "Make an acid call for the US car" , "Car maker" , "Luxury US car" , "Make acid call to car company" .)