The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PAUSE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
A
U
S
E
More clues leading to the result PAUSE
- Break assistant initially employed touring the States
- Kick pedal one put to some purpose
- Endless Jesus raps from the east? Take a break
- Break up as miserable, ending in divorce
- Check what bears have picked up?
- We hear hands take short break
- Dad has to exercise in break
- Rest feet, by the sound of it
- Break hands, we hear
- Secretary getting employment and a rest
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "break" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case break = pause.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 PAUSE mean?
PAUSE noun- A button whose functions are pausing and resuming something, such as a DVD player, a video game or a computer.
- A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
- A short time for relaxing and doing something else.
- Hesitation; suspense; doubt.
- In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation mark.
- A break or paragraph in writing.
- A sign indicating continuance of a note or rest.
- (as direct object) take pause: hesitate; give pause: cause to hesitate
- To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.
- To interrupt an activity and wait.
- To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
- To halt the play or playback of, temporarily, so that it can be resumed from the same point.
- To consider; to reflect.