The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word FLOSS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
F
L
O
S
S
More clues leading to the result FLOSS
- Fine no longer having clean teeth
- Waste silk, following damage
- Kind of down following defeat
- Remove food from back of wheel in fine old ship
- Casualty after fine thread
- Classic location for the mill recommended by dentists
- Eliot’s river dropping below fathom
- Female fatality in Eliot’s river
- Female mislaying teeth cleaner
- Following defeat, try to get the bit between your teeth?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Waste silk" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case waste silk = floss.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 FLOSS mean?
FLOSS noun- A thread used to clean the gaps between the teeth.
- Raw silk fibres.
- The fibres covering a corncob etc.; the loose downy or silky material inside the husks of certain plants, such as beans.
- Any thread-like material having parallel strands that are not spun or wound around each other.
- Spun sugar or cotton candy, especially in the phrase "candy floss".
- A body feather of an ostrich.
- A dance move in which the dancer repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on each side.
- To clean the area between the teeth using floss.
- To show off, especially by exhibiting one's wealth or talent.
- To perform the floss dance move.
- A small stream of water.
- Fluid glass floating on iron in the puddling furnace, produced by the vitrification of oxides and earths which are present.