Speaker’s cut charge, entertaining to a high degree (9)
I believe the answer is:
doctorate
'a high degree' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'speaker's cut charge entertaining to' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'charge' could be 'rate' (rate is a kind of charge) and 'rate' is located in the answer.
'to' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'doc' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for doctorate that I've seen before include "Higher degree" , "Academic qualification" , "Postgraduate degree" , "PhD or D.Phil" , "High degree" .)