Crossword Genius

Old tree likely to get hollowed out (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

elderly

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'old' is the definition.
(elderly means old or aged)

'tree likely to get hollowed out' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'tree' could be 'elder' (elder is a kind of tree) and 'elder' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for elderly that I've seen before include "over the hill" , "Fairly old, past middle age" , "Mature" , "Silver" , "... or not of tender years" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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