Crossword Genius

East European not quite in bondage (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

slav

'east european' is the definition.
(the Slavs are a European people)

'not quite in bondage' is the wordplay.
'not quite' means to remove the last letter.
'in bondage' becomes 'slave' (similar in meaning).
'slave' with its last letter removed is 'SLAV'.

(Other definitions for slav that I've seen before include "European perhaps" , "Person speaking one of related languages of Euro-Asian border" , "eg a Pole" , "Native of eastern Europe, perhaps" , "One of the European people" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail, The Telegraph and The Irish News.
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