The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word HIDEOUTS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
I
D
E
O
U
T
S
More clues leading to the result HIDEOUTS
- Terrorist leader inhabiting horrible secret locations
- Retreats, voicing acute misgivings
- Time taken in horrid retreats
- Horrible secret locations: time to escape!
- Temperature inside dreadful lairs
- Retreats, due to his suffering
- Basis of terrorism in extremely disgusting dens
- Witch’s heart kept in dreadful, secret places
- First of tombs found in dreadful, secret places
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "retreats" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case retreats = hideouts.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 HIDEOUTS mean?
HIDEOUTS noun- A place to hide.
- A hidden headquarters or place to return to.