Crossword Genius

Loathsome person, say, at liberty to discharge force within limits (2,1,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

to a degree

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

'within limits' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'loathsome person say at liberty to discharge force' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'say' could be 'eg' and 'eg' is located in the answer.
'person' could be 'dr' (Dr is an example) and 'dr' is found in the remaining letters.
'to' is found in the answer.
'force' could be 'e' (E is the symbol of electromotive force) and 'e' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ae' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for to a degree that I've seen before include "How undergraduate works" , "Where university study takes you" , "Where students are heading" , "though not entirely" , "Partly" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app