Squeeze half of them with steel (7)

I believe the answer is:

embrace

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'squeeze' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'half of them with steel' is the wordplay.
'half of' suggests halving the letters.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'steel' becomes 'brace' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'them' cut in half is 'em'.
'em'+'brace'='EMBRACE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for embrace that I've seen before include "Include, contain" , "Clasp in arms, hug" , "Take in arms" , "squeeze" , "Hug or accept eagerly" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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