Almost rate as fools (5)
I believe the answer is:
asses
'fools' is the definition.
(ass can mean a foolish person)
'almost rate' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (almost the whole word is kept).
'rate' becomes 'assess' (I've seen this before).
'assess' with its final letter removed is 'ASSES'.
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for asses that I've seen before include "not the most sensible types" , "Fools; beasts of burden" , "Small, sure-footed animals" , "dim bulbs?" , "Braying animals" .)