The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 3 plus 5 letter word BALL AND CHAIN
B
A
L
L
A
N
D
C
H
A
I
N
More clues leading to the result BALL AND CHAIN
Buddy explains!
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.