The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SPOIL
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
P
O
I
L
More clues leading to the result SPOIL
- Baby’s pram initially covered in dirt
- Earth holds power to go bad
- Ruin ground packed with phosphorous
- Pressure in ground brings ruin
- Damage the earth to seize power
- Do this to cite this for 11
- Ruin ground with introduction of parking
- Political leader hugged by dirty baby
- Mollycoddle? Rot!
- Earth receiving trace of planetary damage
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Damage" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case damage = spoil.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 SPOIL mean?
SPOIL noun- (Also in plural: spoils) Plunder taken from an enemy or victim.
- Material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or dredging. Tailings.
- To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of their arms or armour.
- To strip or deprive (someone) of their possessions; to rob, despoil.
- To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.).
- To carry off (goods) by force; to steal.
- To ruin; to damage (something) in some way making it unfit for use.
- To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
- Of food, to become bad, sour or rancid; to decay.
- To render (a ballot paper) invalid by deliberately defacing it.
- To reveal the ending or major events of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing it ahead of time.