The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word EGGPLANT
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
E
G
G
P
L
A
N
T
More clues leading to the result EGGPLANT
- Fruit works with, say, grapefruit starter
- Urge factory to make a vegetable
- Grand scheme essential to get exotic fruit
- A vegetable in, for example, good plot close to quickset
- Advised one of five that mass-produces gifts for Easter?
- American preference to UK’s Deep Purple
- The vegetable urge works!
- Urge factory to produce fruit
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a vegetable" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a vegetable = eggplant.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 EGGPLANT mean?
EGGPLANT noun- The plant Solanum melongena.
- The edible fruit of the Solanum melongena: an aubergine.
- A dark purple color, like that of the skin of this fruit.
- A black person (used mainly by Italian-Americans).
- A 180 backside rotated invert in which the front hand is planted on the lip of the halfpipe wall