The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word THORN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
H
O
R
N
More clues leading to the result THORN
- Tree thriving initially on S American cape
- Prickly shrub obtainable from heath or nursery
- Hard punches ruptured spine
- Spine damaged by stretching, needing input from hospital
- Introduction of hike in rent is an irritation
- Initially take heed observing really nasty plant
- Name assigned to god is a problematic point
- Old character featuring in multi-author narrative
- Rose has this ripped clothing Henry!
- Unsure about husband’s old letter
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Spine" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case spine = thorn.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 THORN mean?
THORN noun- A sharp protective spine of a plant.
- Any shrub or small tree that bears thorns, especially a hawthorn.
- That which pricks or annoys; anything troublesome.
- A letter of Latin script (capital: Þ, small: þ), borrowed from the futhark; today used only in Icelandic to represent the voiceless dental fricative, but originally used in several early Germanic scripts, including Old English where it represented the dental fricatives that are today written th (Old English did not have phonemic voicing distinctions for fricatives).
- To pierce with, or as if with, a thorn