The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word WHIPLASH
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
W
H
I
P
L
A
S
H
More clues leading to the result WHIPLASH
- Injury caused by a couple of cats
- Sponge – absorbing lake with it first is a pain in the neck
- Two versions of Flog It may be a pain in the neck
- Physical injury? Get joint loosening initially in watery mixture
- Joint beginning to languish in bath? Result of an accident perhaps
- Weight pressing on joint remains following learner’s injury
- Work in hit film
- Flogs, resulting in neck injury
- Clean trousers in lake? It’s a pain in the neck
- Injury caused by birch tree catching lumberjack’s head
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Injury" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case injury = whiplash.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 WHIPLASH mean?
WHIPLASH noun- The lash of a whip
- An injury to the upper spine connected to a violent jerk of the head in either a backward or forward or side to side direction, resembling the motion of a whip
- To jerk back and forth; to buffet
- To lash as if with a whip