The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word PROTECTED
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The cryptic/wordplay part
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What does PROTECTED mean?
PROTECTED verb- To keep safe; to defend; to guard; to prevent harm coming to.
- (travel) To book a passenger on a later flight if there is a chance they will not be able to board their earlier reserved flight.
- Defended
- (of a variable, method, etc.) Having the protected access modifier, indicating that a program element is accessible to subclasses but not to the program in general.