Crossword Genius

Were we to leave the land, would take it back (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

retract

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'back' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'were we to leave the land' is the wordplay.
'to leave' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'the land' becomes 'tract' (tract can mean an area of land).
'were' with 'we' taken away is 're'.
're'+'tract'='RETRACT'

'would take it' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for retract that I've seen before include "Withdraw as unjustified" , "Withdraw (offer, statement etc)" , "Cancel" , "Pull back (statements or claws, perhaps)" , "Revoke" .)

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