Had a phobia of American agent welcoming challenge starting off (6)
I believe the answer is:
feared
'had a phobia of american' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'agent welcoming challenge starting off' is the wordplay.
'agent' becomes 'fed' (fed is a kind of agent**).
'welcoming' indicates putting letters inside (in sense of 'inviting in').
'challenge' becomes 'dare' (daring is a kind of challenging).
'starting off' means to remove the first letter (the starting letter is removed).
'dare' with its first letter taken away is 'are'.
'fed' placed around 'are' is 'FEARED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for feared that I've seen before include "Was in awe of" , "Dreaded" , "Was afraid of" , "Was uneasy or apprehensive about" , "Was scared of" .)