Gifted lecturer took in low grade (7)

I believe the answer is:

donated

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'gifted' is the definition.
(donating is a kind of gifting)

'lecturer took in low grade' is the wordplay.
'lecturer' becomes 'don' (don can mean an academic).
'took in' becomes 'ate' (take in can mean to eat).
'low grade' becomes 'd' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'don'+'ate'+'d'='DONATED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for donated that I've seen before include "Gave" , "Given" , "Presented" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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