The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word HANDSHAKE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
H
A
N
D
S
H
A
K
E
More clues leading to the result HANDSHAKE
- Passes fish, making gesture of greeting
- Greeting crew members with fish
- Greeting Henry with hot drink outside
- Seamen fish for friendly greeting
- Greeting from ship’s crew to fish
- Workers given fish — a gesture of goodwill
- Crewmen given fish: this seals deal
- Crew given fish as acknowledgment
- Gives swimmer greeting
- Nervous greeting?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Greeting" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case greeting = handshake.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 HANDSHAKE mean?
HANDSHAKE noun- The grasping of hands by two people when greeting, leave-taking, or making an agreement.
- An exchange of signals between two devices when communications begin in order to ensure synchronization.
- To perform a handshake; to shake hands.
- To perform a handshake with another device.