The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word MARGARINE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
M
A
R
G
A
R
I
N
E
More clues leading to the result MARGARINE
- Fat soldier catching fish
- Soldier eats fish spread
- Fish in sea that’s oily and fatty
- Fat horse fed with special grain
- Spread grain indiscriminately for horse to eat
- Mother ordered Garnier product made with vegetable oil
- Soldier on ship eating fish spread
- Spread margins are poor, lacking investors ultimately
- Fish in the sea’s spread
- Naval soldier eating fish spread
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "spread" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case spread = margarine.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 MARGARINE mean?
MARGARINE noun- A spread, manufactured from a blend of vegetable oils (some of which are hydrogenated), emulsifiers etc, mostly used as a substitute for butter.
- The solid ingredient of human fat, olive oil, etc.