The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 letter word BACK DOWN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
B
A
C
K
D
O
W
N
More clues leading to the result BACK DOWN
- Defender on the floor, stop attacking
- Withdraw from second hill
- Withdraw, having returned to humbler position?
- Support taking depressed chicken out?
- Face up? It might mean the opposite!
- Abandon one’s position in rear, having crashed
- Front up, do we assume, to submit?
- Face up! It might mean the opposite!
- Submit and support party with gumption – at last!
- Face up perhaps, but not to a challenge
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "stop attacking" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case stop attacking = back down.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.