Earn, merit (7)
I believe the answer is:
deserve
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'earn' is the first definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'merit' is the second definition.
(I know that merit can be written as deserve)
(Other definitions for deserve that I've seen before include "Justify" , "Severed (anag)" , "Merit, earn" , "Be worth" , "Merit (something)" .)