The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 letter word ETON CROP
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
E
T
O
N
C
R
O
P
More clues leading to the result ETON CROP
- Short cut from port, once in motion
- Liberal prone to adopting Conservative hairstyle
- Female cut by whip at boarding school
- Barbershop possibly involved in this cornet-playing event in theatre
- Style of mop that’s a weight during regularities of her care work
- Catching cold, prone to off-colour 23
- Barnet prone to sporadic clamping foremost in centre
- Short cut suggested by Johnson, Cameron and chums?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Female cut" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case female cut = eton crop.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.