The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 plus 3 plus 4 letter word ONE THAT GOT AWAY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
O
N
E
T
H
A
T
G
O
T
A
W
A
Y
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "missed opportunity" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case missed opportunity = one that got away.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.