Cryptic crossword clue
Painful growth: phone doctor shortly 8

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

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
R
I
N
G
B
O
N
E

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Painful growth" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case painful growth = ringbone.
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.

Crossword Answer definitions

RINGBONE noun
  1. Osteoarthritis affecting any of several bones of a horse's foot

Latest crossword clues with full explanations