Vehicle I’d taken round river, upset female figure (8)
I believe the answer is:
caryatid
'upset female figure' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
I also know that both 'female' and 'figure' relate to this answer.
'vehicle i'd taken round river' is the wordplay.
'vehicle' becomes 'car' (car is a kind of vehicle).
'taken' is an insertion indicator.
'round' is a reversal indicator.
'river' becomes 'tay' (Scottish river).
'tay' in reverse letter order is 'yat'.
'car'+'id'='carid'
'carid' enclosing 'yat' is 'CARYATID'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for caryatid that I've seen before include "Column in female form" , "She gives support in her column" , "Sculptured female figure as support pillar" , "supporting woman that's stony" , "Pillar in female form" .)