Crossword Genius

Pass on drinks with sweetheart faint (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

collapse

'faint' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'pass on drinks with sweetheart' is the wordplay.
'pass' becomes 'col' (col is a term for a mountain pass).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'drinks' becomes 'laps' (lapping is a kind of drinking).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'sweetheart' becomes 'e' (the heart/centre of 'sweet').
'col'+'laps'+'e'='COLLAPSE'

(Other definitions for collapse that I've seen before include "Disintegration" , "downfall" , "Suddenly fall down or give way" , "Fall down as from weakness" , "Go to ruin" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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