The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word THROTTLE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
H
R
O
T
T
L
E
More clues leading to the result THROTTLE
- Accelerator and choke
- Right over the top, learner breaking the fuel regulator!
- Choke? It regulates flow of an engine’s fuel/air mixture
- Suppress article containing nonsense about lieutenant
- Suppress article about rubbish tribunal lacking guts
- Excessive line restrained by trio almost in silence
- Device controlling engine’s power in time, hot and dry in part
- Valve that’s half dry in part
- Cricketer catches hard ball at last, before England’s opener can check
- Suppress article about corruption trial, discontented
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "silence" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case silence = throttle.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 THROTTLE mean?
THROTTLE noun- A valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine.
- The lever or pedal that controls this valve.
- The windpipe or trachea.
- To cut back on the speed of (an engine, person, organization, network connection, etc.).
- To strangle or choke someone.
- To have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation; to choke; to suffocate.
- To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated.
- To utter with breaks and interruption, in the manner of a person half suffocated.