Like the tough guy who almost came up to the house (5)
I believe the answer is:
macho
'like the tough guy' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'almost came up to the house' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (almost the whole word is kept).
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'to the house' becomes 'ho' (abbreviation for house).
'came' with its final letter removed is 'cam'.
'cam' in reverse letter order is 'mac'.
'mac'+'ho'='MACHO'
'who' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for macho that I've seen before include "Showily virile" , "Affectedly virile" , "Ramboesque" , "Aggressively masculine" , "Blokeish" .)