The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word GREETING
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
G
R
E
E
T
I
N
G
More clues leading to the result GREETING
- Short person from Athens can start to give time of day
- Welcome to enter gig free
- Hello!, say, causes weeping for some
- Goods host always served up — money welcome
- Welcoming evidence of unhappiness amongst the Scots
- Welcoming ends getting scrubbed in green tinge
- Welcome case of golfer teeing off
- Wail in midnight hail
- Ditching American in accord about temperature? That’s welcome
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.
What does GREETING mean?
GREETING verb- To welcome in a friendly manner, either in person or through another means e.g. writing or over the phone/internet
- To arrive at or reach, or meet (talking of something which brings joy)
- To accost; to address.
- To meet and give salutations.
- To be perceived by (somebody).
- To weep; to cry.
- A conventional phrase used to start a letter or conversation or otherwise to acknowledge a person's arrival or presence.
- The action of the verb to greet.