He could be grounded and kept down (8)
I believe the answer is:
underdog
'he could' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'grounded and kept down' is the wordplay.
'grounded' anagrams to 'UNDERDOG'.
However, I'm not clear how the anagram is indicated.
'be' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for underdog that I've seen before include "Loser; subject" , "One thought unlikely to win" , "One with little status" , "One expected to lose" , "Such is unlikely to succeed" .)