Many a rise could be taken out of one! (5)
I believe the answer is:
miser
'out of one' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'many a rise could be' is the wordplay.
'many' becomes 'm' (Roman numeral for a thousand).
'could be' indicates an anagram.
'rise' with letters rearranged gives 'iser'.
'm'+'iser'='MISER'
'taken' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for miser that I've seen before include "Mean individual" , "One such as Scrooge" , "Avaricious hoarder" , "Curmudgeon" , "not a spendthrift" .)