Doctor swallowed tablet first, then consumed umpire (7)

I believe the answer is:

mediate

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'umpire' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'doctor swallowed tablet first then consumed' is the wordplay.
'doctor' becomes 'me'.
'swallowed tablet' becomes 'di' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'first then' says to put letters next to each other.
'consumed' becomes 'ate' (eating is a kind of consuming).
'me'+'di'+'ate'='MEDIATE'

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(Other definitions for mediate that I've seen before include "Act as conciliator" , "Arbitrate between parties in dispute" , "To referee" , "Conciliate" , "Act between parties to reconcile differences" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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