Discover force in Damascus originally (4)
I believe the answer is:
find
'discover' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'force in damascus originally' is the wordplay.
'force' becomes 'f' (abbreviation in physics e.g. f=ma).
'originally' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'damascus' is 'd'.
'f'+'in'+'d'='FIND'
(Other definitions for find that I've seen before include "Acquisition" , "Discovery" , "Track down" , "Realise" , "Discover by chance" .)