The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word NATTERED
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
N
A
T
T
E
R
E
D
More clues leading to the result NATTERED
- Did gas upset attender?
- Last of women treated badly – were gossips
- Talked at rented building
- Attender unfortunately rattled on in talk
- Gassed wine inferior to coffee that’s new for line
- Entertained by one loveless leftie, a dry person gossiped
- Did gas develop net trade?
- Talked of new leader — poorly treated
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "w/ere /gossips" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case w/ere /gossips = nattered.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 NATTERED mean?
NATTERED verb- To talk casually; to discuss unimportant matters.
- To nag.