Commanding officer entertained by one clergyman or another (6)
I believe the answer is:
deacon
'or another' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'commanding officer entertained by one clergyman' is the wordplay.
'commanding officer' becomes 'co'.
'entertained by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are hosted or entertained).
'one clergyman' becomes 'dean' (dean is a kind of clergyman).
'co' put within 'dean' is 'DEACON'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for deacon that I've seen before include "Church official - canoed (anag)" , "Christian rank below a priest" , "Church officer" , "Layman attending to church duties" , "Cleric ranking just below a priest in Christian churches" .)