Journeys, dismissing English defeats (5)
I believe the answer is:
routs
'defeats' is the definition.
(routing is a kind of defeating)
'journeys dismissing english' is the wordplay.
'journeys' becomes 'routes' (I've seen this before).
'dismissing' suggests deleting specific letters.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'routes' with 'e' removed is 'ROUTS'.
(Other definitions for routs that I've seen before include "Utterly defeats" , "Trounces" , "old parties" , "drubbings" , "Thoroughly defeats" .)