The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CHEWABLE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
H
E
W
A
B
L
E
More clues leading to the result CHEWABLE
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Like something that can be ground down/Like something that can be ground down" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case like something that can be ground down/like something that can be ground down = chewable.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.