The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word SANDBLAST
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
S
A
N
D
B
L
A
S
T
More clues leading to the result SANDBLAST
- Confess, finally, and slate is clean?
- Applying pressure, rough up characters in central Lisbon, finally
- Son with bass most unlikely to clean building?
- Components of antimony finally used to engrave?
- Smooth event like this has to go on and on
- Roughly clean son, to accompaniment of cursing
- Those starting sprint badly, after all, finish under high pressure
- Clean where letters are finally found in bus & minicab?
- Small, with damn clean brickwork?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "engrave?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case engrave? = sandblast.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 SANDBLAST mean?
SANDBLAST noun- Sand driven by a blast of air or steam for cutting and engraving figures on glass or metal.
- To spray with fast-moving solid grains (such as sand propelled by compressed air, although softer material like sodium bicarbonate used for delicate materials may also be so referred to). The process is used for stripping dirt, rust, paint etc. from the surface of objects.