Crossword Genius

Revolutionary losing heart gets to falter (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

reel

'to falter' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'revolutionary losing heart' is the wordplay.
'revolutionary' becomes 'rebel' (rebel is a kind of revolutionary).
'losing heart' suggests removing the centre.
'rebel' with its middle taken out is 'REEL'.

'gets' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for reel that I've seen before include "Cylinder on which something is wound" , "spin" , "Revolving spool" , "Stagger about in lively dance" , "Highland dance" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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