Fierce chap avoiding pained expression (4)
I believe the answer is:
fell
'fierce' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fell that I've seen before include "Came to pass" , "Upland tract" , "Toppled" , "yielded to attack" , "Knock down - mountain" .)