The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word CANAL
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
C
A
N
A
L
More clues leading to the result CANAL
- Waterway with biblical town on left
- Is Capone able to identify a watercourse?
- Duct conveying liquid tin and other metal
- Where vessels may be made of tin and aluminium
- Is a Liberal permitted to barge in here?
- Note obsessive passage
- Physical river cut
- Last bit of humour drained from bodily duct
- Lavatory beside a large waterway
- Vessel made of tin and aluminium
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Physical river cut" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case physical river cut = canal.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 CANAL mean?
CANAL noun- An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
- A tubular channel within the body.
- One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars.
- To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
- To travel along a canal by boat