Figure to get some work as a singer (5)
I believe the answer is:
tenor
'a singer' is the definition.
(tenor is a kind of singer)
'figure to get some work as' is the wordplay.
'figure' becomes 'ten' (I've seen this before).
'to get' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'some work as' becomes 'or' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ten'+'or'='TENOR'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tenor that I've seen before include "General course - male singer" , "General meaning of an utterance" , "Male voice of high pitch, like Luciano" , "Male singer with high register" , "Vocal range" .)