On spilling a jar, the great man gave a cry! (5)
I believe the answer is:
rajah
'a cry' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'on spilling a jar the great man' is the wordplay.
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'spilling' is an anagram indicator.
'the great man' becomes 'ah' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'jar' is an anagram of 'raj'.
'raj' next to 'ah' is 'RAJAH'.
'gave' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rajah that I've seen before include "Asian ruler" , "Royal Indian male" , "Indian king or prince" , "Hindu ruler" , "Former Indian ruler" .)