Swallows the last at first stroke (4)
I believe the answer is:
eats
'swallows' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the last at first stroke' is the wordplay.
'last' indicates one should take the final letters.
'first stroke' becomes 's' (1st letter of 'stroke').
The last letter of 'the' is 'e'.
'e'+'at'+'s'='EATS'
(Other definitions for eats that I've seen before include "Tuck" , "Devours - food" , "Provisions" , "Scoffs" , "worrying" .)