Took off from league, leaving fit to get a pint (5)
I believe the answer is:
leapt
'took off' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'league leaving fit to get a pint' is the wordplay.
'league' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'leaving fit' becomes 'ea' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to get' says to put letters next to each other.
'a pint' becomes 'pt' (abbreviation).
'l'+'ea'+'pt'='LEAPT'
'from' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for leapt that I've seen before include "Took off" , "Jumped on plate" , "Bounded, sprang" , "rose fast" , "Made spring" .)