Half-cut Lord Admiral shot American native (9)
I believe the answer is:
armadillo
'american native' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'half-cut lord admiral shot' is the wordplay.
'half cut' means to take half the letters.
'shot' indicates an anagram.
'lord' with half the letters taken is 'lo'.
'lo'+'admiral'='loadmiral'
'loadmiral' with letters rearranged gives 'ARMADILLO'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for armadillo that I've seen before include "Plated burrowing animal" , "Insectivorous mammal" , "bony individual?" , "Mammal covered with horny plates" , "Horny-plated creature" .)