European felled with a mighty blow (8)

I believe the answer is:

poleaxed

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'european felled with a mighty blow' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'european felled' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'pole' (someone from Poland).
'felled' becomes 'axed' (I've seen this before).
'pole'+'axed'='POLEAXED'

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(Other definitions for poleaxed that I've seen before include "Felled" , "Greatly shocked" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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