The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word SHEEP
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
S
H
E
E
P
More clues leading to the result SHEEP
- Recalled games with the woman leading mindless followers
- Possibly Jacob’s novel record
- They’re easily led. Does that sound like you?
- Animal urinates over top of hedge, facing the other way
- Woman starts to embrace pet ruminant
- Sometimes opted to return with female farm animal
- Followers quietly go uphill
- Creature, small crawler
- Farm animals slowly escape – hard to stop that!
- One following hydrogen in leak
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "ruminant" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ruminant = sheep.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 SHEEP mean?
SHEEP noun- A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
- A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.
- (chiefly plural) A religious adherent, a member of a congregation or religious community (compare flock).
- Sheepskin leather.
- (speech recognition) A person who is easily understood by a speech recognition system; contrasted with goat.
- A sheep; specifically singular form of sheep.