The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word LAUNCE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
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More clues leading to the result LAUNCE
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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.
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What does LAUNCE mean?
LAUNCE noun- A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
- A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
- A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
- A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
- An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
- (founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
- One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
- A lancet.
- To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
- To open with a lancet; to pierce
- To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
- Sand eel, sand lance, fish of the family Ammodytidae
- A balance.