European source of energy after reversing cut (4)
I believe the answer is:
pole
'european' is the definition.
(Pole is an example)
'source of energy after reversing cut' is the wordplay.
'source of' suggests taking the first letters.
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'reversing' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'cut' becomes 'lop' (lopping is a kind of cutting**).
The first letter of 'energy' is 'e'.
'lop' in reverse letter order is 'pol'.
'e' put after 'pol' is 'POLE'.
(Other definitions for pole that I've seen before include "location where it is always very cold" , "Limit" , "Rod, perch" , "Magnet end" , "North or South?" .)