Crossword Genius

Henry getting on in government farm (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

holding

'farm' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'henry getting on in government' is the wordplay.
'henry' becomes 'h' ('H' can be a synonym of 'henry').
'getting on' becomes 'old' ('getting on a bit' means 'old').
'government' becomes 'g'.
'h'+'old'+'in'+'g'='HOLDING'

(Other definitions for holding that I've seen before include "Piece of leased land, often small" , "-- Company; -- pattern" , "Long hid (anag.)" , "Farm; stacking (of aircraft waiting to land)" , "Something owned" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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