Cryptic crossword clue
Old man, placed under arrest, freaked out 8

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PANICKED

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
A
N
I
C
K
E
D

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "freaked out" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case freaked out = panicked.
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 PANICKED mean?

PANICKED verb
  1. To feel overwhelming fear.
  2. To cause somebody to panic.
  3. (by extension) To crash.
  4. (by extension) To cause the system to crash.
PANICKED adjective
  1. Experiencing or in a state of panic.

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