A little wheeler-dealer tediously given a warning (7)

I believe the answer is:

alerted

'given a warning' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'a little wheeler-dealer tediously' is the wordplay.
'a little' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'ALERTED' is hidden within 'wheeler dealer tediously'.

(Other definitions for alerted that I've seen before include "Tipped off" , "Given warning" , "Put on guard, forewarned" , "Put on guard, warned" , "Warned, made aware" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.

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