The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word AMOEBA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
M
O
E
B
A
More clues leading to the result AMOEBA
- Energy entering a crowd, a tiny shape-shifter
- Animal in a cell — a second has been regularly raised
- A second degree restricts one ultimately — one doesn't have much of a life!
- A second English degree? That’s not much of a life
- Little energy in a lot of people encountering a protozoan
- Having smuggled in drugs, a Mafia leader on Alcatraz moving cell
- A private’s ending in the army, a simple form of life
- One losing heart when taken in by a business graduate, low form of life
- A crowd with inner energy descending on a small creature
- Obama upset about Republican’s second-lowest life form
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Animal in a cell" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case animal in a cell = amoeba.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 AMOEBA mean?
AMOEBA noun- A member of the genus Amoeba of unicellular protozoa that moves by means of temporary projections called pseudopodia.
- The graph of the real part of the logarithms of a polynomial equation in complex numbers.
- An asexual.