The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word SCALPING
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
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Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Hair-raising action by the brave" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case hair-raising action by the brave = scalping.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 SCALPING mean?
SCALPING verb- To remove the scalp (part of the head from where the hair grows), by brutal act or accident.
- To resell, especially tickets, usually for an inflated price, often illegally.
- On an open outcry exchange trading floor, to buy and sell rapidly for one's own account, aiming to buy from a seller and a little later sell to a buyer, making a small profit from the difference (roughly the amount of the bid/offer spread, or less).
- To screen or sieve ore before further processing.
- To remove the skin of.
- To remove the grass from.
- To destroy the political influence of.
- (milling) To brush the hairs or fuzz from (wheat grains, etc.) in the process of high milling.
- The action by which someone is scalped.
- A fraudulent form of market manipulation in which a person buys shares immediately before recommending the shares to others, thus driving the price up.
- A legitimate method of arbitrage of small price gaps created by the bid-ask spread.