General caught with howitzer at first, being out for blood (5)
I believe the answer is:
leech
'out for blood' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'general caught with howitzer at first' is the wordplay.
'general' becomes 'Lee' (Robert E. Lee - US revolutionary commander).
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'howitzer' is 'h'.
'lee'+'c'+'h'='LEECH'
'being' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for leech that I've seen before include "Blood-sucking worm or parasitical person" , "Archaic word for physician" , "Old medicinal sucker" , "sponge" , "one good at sponging" .)