Crossword Genius

Bottle about as old as we are (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

courage

'bottle' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'about as old as we are' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'about' could be 'c' (abbreviation for 'circa') and 'c' is located in the answer.
'old' could be 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English) and 'o' is found in the answer.
'are' could be 'a' (the 'are' is a metric unit of area) and 'a' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'urge' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

(Other definitions for courage that I've seen before include "Valour" , "See 6" , "Grit" , "Bravery, spirit" , "Ability to conquer fear or despair" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent and The Guardian.
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