Crossword Genius

Let off the lead, comes over to frighten one (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

startle

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

'frighten one' is the definition.
'startle' can be an answer for 'frighten' (I've seen this before). I'm not certain of the 'one' bit.

'let off the lead comes over' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'let' is 'tle' which is within the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'sar' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for startle that I've seen before include "Scare" , "Make jump" , "Alarm (someone)" , "Surprise with fright" , "Astonish" .)

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