The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word DRAGONFLY
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
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More clues leading to the result DRAGONFLY
- Pull just holding head of fragile insect
- Delicate creature finding Spooner’s drinking vessel empty?
- Insect in bottle out of water, according to Spooner
- Bore just netting female insect
- Insect crawling on dry flag
- Cavalryman drops round, smart — one’s all aflutter
- Insect trail on sole inhibits foot
- Trail just occupied by female insect
- Insect to keep going a long time? Crafty!
- Insect in Spooner’s large jug, empty
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Insect" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case insect = dragonfly.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 DRAGONFLY mean?
DRAGONFLY noun- An insect of the suborder Epiprocta or, more strictly, the infraorder Anisoptera, having four long transparent wings held perpendicular to a long body when perched.