Turned up to support shy South American native (5)
I believe the answer is:
coypu
'south american native' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.
'turned up to support shy' is the wordplay.
'turned' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'to support' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters hold others up).
'shy' becomes 'coy' (coy can mean shy or modest).
'up' backwards is 'pu'.
'pu' put after 'coy' is 'COYPU'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for coypu that I've seen before include "rodents" , "Large South American aquatic rodent" , "South American rodent bred for its fur, nutria" , "South American beaver-like beast" , "aquatic mammal" .)