The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PARSE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
P
A
R
S
E
More clues leading to the result PARSE
- Analyse almost astronomical distance
- Standard direction to grammar students
- Analyse possible pass across the pond
- Spare criminal and reduce sentence
- Analyse standards on base
- Break down as per projected
- Analyze standards before introduction of exams
- Analyse Zoroastrian descendant with no end of pedigree
- Analyse astronomical distance without using speed of light
- Work out clue, maybe, with distribution of spare letters
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Break down" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case break down = parse.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 PARSE mean?
PARSE noun- An act of parsing.
- The result of such an act.
- To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically.
- To examine closely; to scrutinize.
- To split (a file or other input) into pieces of data that can be easily manipulated or stored.
- To resolve (a string of code or text) into its elements to determine if it conforms to a particular grammar.
- Of a string of code or text, sentence, etc.: to conform to rules of grammar, to be syntactically valid.