The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ORGANISM
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
O
R
G
A
N
I
S
M
More clues leading to the result ORGANISM
- Creature roaming randomly round capital in Sudan
- A living thing's heart perhaps is beginning to move
- Being in minor gas explosion
- Something living in whom sin a grotesque recollection
- Being in minor gas explosion?
- Life form succeeded in roaming erratically
- Being church musician, mass preferred to last piece
- Creature is among rocks around river
- Being from newspaper perhaps is source of misanthropy
- Yellow sea bird half destroyed is beginning to move — it’s alive
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "A living thing" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a living thing = organism.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ORGANISM mean?
ORGANISM noun- A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism.
- (by extension) Any complex thing with properties normally associated with living things.