The three shot out of the way (4)

I believe the answer is:

trey

'the three' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'shot out of the way' is the wordplay.
'shot' becomes 'try' (both can mean an attempt).
'out of' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters on the outside of others).
'the way' becomes 'e' (Compass direction - East).
'try' enclosing 'e' is 'TREY'.

(Another definition for trey that I've seen is " Three in cards".)

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