Such a cut may be seen in a ring (5)
I believe the answer is:
upper
'a ring' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'such a cut may be' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'per' (eg 'one a day' means 'one per day') and 'per' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'up' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'seen in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for upper that I've seen before include "Top of shoe; stimulant" , "The higher of two, berths perhaps" , "that's found in shoe" , "Part of shoe above sole" , "catcher of swans?" .)