A little old lady essentially felt for an outcast (7)

I believe the answer is:

ishmael

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'for an outcast' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a little old lady essentially felt' is the wordplay.
'a little' becomes 'ish' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'old lady' becomes 'ma' (both can mean mother).
'essentially' indicates the central letters.
The middle letters of 'felt' are 'el'.
'ish'+'ma'+'el'='ISHMAEL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ishmael that I've seen before include "Moby Dick's narrator, and Abraham's eldest son" , "Bellicose sort" , "Son of Abraham, cast out after the birth of Isaac" , "he survived wreck of whaler" , "Abraham's child" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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