Learned European eccentric cut dead (8)
I believe the answer is:
educated
'learned' is the definition.
(educating is a kind of learning)
'european eccentric cut dead' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'eccentric' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cut'+'dead'='cutdead'
'cutdead' with letters rearranged gives 'ducated'.
'e'+'ducated'='EDUCATED'
(Other definitions for educated that I've seen before include "Having completed schooling, well informed" , "Civilised" , "Learned - cultivated" , "Clever" , "Schooled, trained" .)