Lap up spilled tea (3)
I believe the answer is:
eat
'lap up' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to consumption as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'spilled tea' is the wordplay.
'spilled' indicates anagramming the letters.
'tea' with letters rearranged gives 'EAT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eat that I've seen before include "Make food disappear" , "Dine in a restaurant" , "Break bread" , "Partake of" , "Consume (food)" .)