Heading for escalator, the lift put out (8)

I believe the answer is:

etherise

'put out' is the definition.
('put out' can mean 'anaesthetise')

'heading for escalator the lift' is the wordplay.
'heading for' says to take the initial letters.
'lift' becomes 'rise' (rising is a kind of lifting).
The first letter of 'escalator' is 'e'.
'e'+'the'+'rise'='ETHERISE'

(Another definition for etherise that I've seen is " Put out".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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