Harridans with spirit ousting earlier maidens (7)

I believe the answer is:

virgins

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

'maidens' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'harridans with spirit ousting earlier' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'spirit' could be 'gin' (alcoholic spirit) and 'gin' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for virgins that I've seen is " Maidens".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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