Like taking ends off (4)

I believe the answer is:

akin

'like' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'taking ends off' is the wordplay.
'ends off' says to take the centre.
The middle letters of 'taking' are 'AKIN'.

(Other definitions for akin that I've seen before include "Similar, like" , "Similar in quality" , "Related or similiar" , "Seemingly related" , "Of similar character" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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