Would a sergeant think such punishment beneath him? (8)
I believe the answer is:
corporal
'would a sergeant think such punishment beneath him?' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'him?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'him?' could be 'al' and 'al' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for corporal that I've seen before include "Petty officer" , "NCO rank below sergeant" , "characterising a body" , "Of the body, like NCO" , "Army rank" .)