Went higher, having 100 arms and legs (7)

I believe the answer is:

climbed

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'went higher' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'100 arms and legs' is the wordplay.
'i00' becomes 'cardinal' (similar in meaning).
'arms' suggests removing the centre (only the side letters or \'arms\' of the word).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'legs' becomes 'imbed' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cardinal' with its centre removed is 'cl'.
'cl'+'imbed'='CLIMBED'

'having' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for climbed that I've seen before include "Ascended" , "rose" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.

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