Loved to hold me up and put down (7)
I believe the answer is:
demoted
'put down' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech. However, past participle verbs and adjectives can occasionally mean the same thing.
'loved to hold me up' is the wordplay.
'loved' becomes 'doted' (I've seen this in another clue).
'to hold' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'me' reversed gives 'em'.
'doted' enclosing 'em' is 'DEMOTED'.
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for demoted that I've seen before include "Reduced in rank" , "Relegated" , "Slippery fish" , "Put down in rank" , "Downgraded" .)