Hit a studious person, by the sound of it (4)
I believe the answer is:
swat
'hit' is the definition.
(I know that swat is a more specific form of the action hit)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for swat that I've seen before include "Hit smartly" , "Kill (fly)" , "land crushing blow" , "Hit a wasp or fly" , "Twas something of a blow" .)