One might record duration of brief uprising (5)
I believe the answer is:
timer
'one might record duration' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'brief uprising' is the wordplay.
'brief' becomes 'remit' (both can mean someone's responsibilities).
'uprising' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'remit' in reverse letter order is 'TIMER'.
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for timer that I've seen before include "Clock or watch" , "Trigger mechanism" , "Stopwatch, say" , "one of 14 [CUCKOO CLOCKS]" , "Preset mechanisation to activate a device" .)