Crossword Genius

Receive wage and discover it's a pound missing (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

earn

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

'receive' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'wage and discover it's a pound missing' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is located in the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'r' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for earn that I've seen before include "Receive by effort" , "Warrant" , "Deserve; get paid" , "Merit (a reward)" , "Make money" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.