Could a child bear him? (5)
I believe the answer is:
teddy
'him?' is the definition.
'could a child bear' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'bear' could be 'ted' (teddy bear) and 'ted' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for teddy that I've seen before include "Type of bear" , "plaything" , "Bear - boy" , "Child's soft toy" , "Stuffed bear" .)