Crossword Genius

Pulses initially rejected as food (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eats

'food' is the definition.
(eats can mean food)

'pulses initially rejected' is the wordplay.
'pulses' becomes 'beats' ('beat' can be a synonym of 'pulse').
'initially rejected' means to remove the first letter.
'beats' with its initial letter removed is 'EATS'.

'as' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for eats that I've seen before include "Devours - food" , "meal" , "Scoffs" , "Takes nourishment" , "Consumes or dines" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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