Crossword Genius

Give a speech for zero payment (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

orate

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'give a speech' is the definition.
(oratory is public speaking)

'zero payment' is the wordplay.
'zero' becomes 'O' (O resembles 0).
'payment' becomes 'rate' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'o'+'rate'='ORATE'

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for orate that I've seen before include "Make a pompous speech" , "Speak in public" , "Speak publicly" , "Pontificate" , "Talk pompously" .)

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