The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word BREEDERS
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
B
R
E
E
D
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S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "parents" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case parents = breeders.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 BREEDERS mean?
BREEDERS noun- A person who breeds plants or animals (professionally).
- A person who has had or who is capable of having children; a person who is focussed on the rearing of their own children.
- A heterosexual; i.e. one whose sexual intercourse can lead to breeding.
- Ellipsis of breeder reactor; a type of nuclear reactor that creates material suitable for the production of atomic weapons.
- A pattern that exhibits quadratic growth by generating multiple copies of a secondary pattern, each of which then generates multiple copies of a tertiary pattern.