Crossword Genius

Doubt South American kissed briefly, as you say (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

suspect

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'doubt' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'south american kissed briefly as you say' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'south' could be 's' (synonyms) and 's' is located in the answer.
'american' could be 'us' (abbreviation for United States) and 'us' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for suspect that I've seen before include "Presume" , "Doubt; mistrust" , "Doubt innocence of" , "One believed to have committed a crime" , "Fancy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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