Be afraid like a gamebird (5)
I believe the answer is:
quail
'be' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for quail that I've seen before include "Flinch from small gamebird?" , "Flinch like gamebird" , "recoil with fear" , "Shrink; a bird" , "See little bird" .)