The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word PEARL
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
P
E
A
R
L
More clues leading to the result PEARL
- Quiet nobleman one valued
- Gem, ruby initially, set in ring
- Fruit with large stone
- A little wisdom maybe from Labour's leader at Conference?
- With year out, struggling player's form drops
- Gem that’s right set in ring
- Gem that’s mostly white or pink with green sides
- Seed with two wings that forms within a shell
- Drop a stitch when talking
- Bluish-grey fruit bowl’s back
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "that forms within a shell" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case that forms within a shell = pearl.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 PEARL mean?
PEARL noun- A shelly concretion, usually rounded, and having a brilliant luster, with varying tints, found in the mantle, or between the mantle and shell, of certain bivalve mollusks, especially in the pearl oysters and river mussels, and sometimes in certain univalves. It is usually due to a secretion of shelly substance around some irritating foreign particle. Its substance is the same as nacre, or mother-of-pearl. Round lustrous pearls are used in jewellery.
- Something precious.
- A capsule of gelatin or similar substance containing liquid for e.g. medicinal application.
- Nacre, or mother-of-pearl.
- A whitish speck or film on the eye.
- A fish allied to the turbot; the brill.
- A light-colored tern.
- One of the circle of tubercles which form the bur on a deer's antler.
- The size of type between diamond and agate, standardized as 5-point.
- A fringe or border.
- A jewel or gem.
- The clitoris.
- (sometimes figurative) To set or adorn with pearls, or with mother-of-pearl.
- To cause to resemble pearls in shape; to make into small round grains.
- To cause to resemble pearls in lustre or iridescence.
- To resemble pearl or pearls.
- To hunt for pearls
- To dig the nose of one's surfboard into the water, often on takeoff.