The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CORUNDUM
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
C
O
R
U
N
D
U
M
More clues leading to the result CORUNDUM
- Brother, not silent presumably, sounding abrasive
- Mineral company managed to have ditch shortened
- Abrasive mound cur removed
- Jointly managed depleted uranium and fermium nucleus with this mineral
- It is very hard auditing Telco run dumbly
- Maybe a ruby from curmudgeon sorry after Georgia’s left
- An abrasive scrap almost ending company career
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "An abrasive" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case an abrasive = corundum.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 CORUNDUM mean?
CORUNDUM noun- An extremely hard mineral, a form of aluminum oxide with the chemical formula Al2O3, that occurs in the form of the gemstones sapphire and ruby; it is used as an abrasive.