Crossword Genius

Get a beating over nothing — not lashed (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

loose

'not lashed' is the definition.

'get a beating over nothing' is the wordplay.
'get a beating' becomes 'lose' (to suffer a bad defeat eg in sport).
'over' indicates putting letters inside.
'nothing' becomes 'o' (looks like zero - 0).
'lose' placed around 'o' is 'LOOSE'.

(Other definitions for loose that I've seen before include "Showing fast behaviour" , "Unrestricted" , "Unfettered" , "Not fitting tightly" , "easy with one's favours" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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