Occupy one new hospital a little time (7)

I believe the answer is:

inhabit

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'occupy' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'one new hospital a little time' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (roman numeral).
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'hospital' becomes 'h'.
'a little' means to remove the last letter (the word is not quite complete).
'time' becomes 'habit' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'i'+'n'+'h'='inh'
'inh' with its final letter taken away is 'in'.
'in'+'habit'='INHABIT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for inhabit that I've seen before include "Live in, occupy" , "people" , "Tenant" , "Live in (a place)" , "Occupy - settle" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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