Crossword Genius

Skipped school (retired hurt, LOL) (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gambolled

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

'skipped' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with motion as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'school retired hurt lol' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'school' could be 'gam' (both can refer to a group of whales) and 'gam' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'lol' is 'oll' which is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'bed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gambolled that I've seen before include "Went like a lamb" , "Ran about playfully" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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.