Boor tackling hard in 2 (8)
I believe the answer is:
pheasant
'2' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'boor tackling hard in' is the wordplay.
'boor' becomes 'peasant' (synonyms).
'tackling hard' becomes 'h' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'peasant' placed around 'h' is 'PHEASANT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pheasant that I've seen before include "something to pluck?" , "Long-tailed gamebirds, male has bright feathers" , "Ant heaps (anag.)" , "Game-bird" , "Cock" .)