Hesitant to admit boy as domestic servant? (8)
I believe the answer is:
charlady
'domestic servant?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'hesitant to admit boy' is the wordplay.
'hesitant' becomes 'chary' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'to admit' is an insertion indicator.
'boy' becomes 'lad' (informal term for boy).
'chary' placed around 'lad' is 'CHARLADY'.
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for charlady that I've seen is " Female cleaner".)