The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word EATS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
E
A
T
S
More clues leading to the result EATS
- Food — pork and ham etc, but no starter
- Poet denied king food
- Scoff, with British retiring from defeats
- Triumphs, putting out fine food
- Forgetting starter warms a meal
- Has some food in great steakhouse
- Almost simple to grab first of the food
- Food scarce at safe houses
- Chicken and ham, say medium cut?
- . Brew teas – what one does to help, when out?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "food" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case food = eats.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 EATS mean?
EATS verb- To ingest; to be ingested.
- To use up.
- To cause (someone) to worry.
- To take the loss in a transaction.
- To be injured or killed by (something such as a firearm or its projectile), especially in the mouth.
- To corrode or erode.
- To perform oral sex (on a person or body part).
- Food.