Worship one of the French dead (7)

I believe the answer is:

adulate

'worship' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'one of the french dead' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'a' (a thing is one thing).
'of the french' becomes 'du' ('of the' in French).
'dead' becomes 'late' (similar in meaning).
'a'+'du'+'late'='ADULATE'

(Other definitions for adulate that I've seen before include "Rave over" , "Praise excessively" , "Excessively admire" , "Flatter obsequiously" , "Flatter excessively" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times and The Times.

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