Waves flip canoe instead (2,5,2)

I believe the answer is:

in place of

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'instead' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'waves flip canoe' is the wordplay.
'waves' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'waving' mean this (letters wave around)).
'flip'+'canoe'='flipcanoe'
'flipcanoe' is an anagram of 'IN PLACE OF'.

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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