The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word BICOLOUR
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
B
I
C
O
L
O
U
R
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "perhaps piebald" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case perhaps piebald = bicolour.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 BICOLOUR mean?
BICOLOUR noun- (Commonwealth spelling) A flower, cat etc., that has two colours.
- (Commonwealth spelling) A flag with such colours, consisting of two stripes that are either vertical or horizontal.
- (Commonwealth spelling) Having two colours