Fierce combatant once stopped by macho guys (8)
I believe the answer is:
vehement
'fierce' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'combatant once stopped by macho guys' is the wordplay.
'combatant once' becomes 'vet' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'stopped by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (stopping can mean blocking a gap).
'macho guys' becomes 'he-men' (I've seen this in another clue).
'vet' going around 'hemen' is 'VEHEMENT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for vehement that I've seen before include "Showing strong feeling, like even them" , "Fervid" , "Showing strong feeling, impassioned" , "Vigorously emphatic" , "Intensely forceful" .)
