The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word BATTLEDRESS
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
B
A
T
T
L
E
D
R
E
S
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "material for conflict/sense" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case material for conflict/sense = battledress.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 BATTLEDRESS mean?
BATTLEDRESS noun- A form of military uniform