The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ELLIPSIS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
E
L
L
I
P
S
I
S
More clues leading to the result ELLIPSIS
- Something dotty relative with tablets brought over
- Suppression of measure is restricting Greek character
- Spies ill prepared …
- Possible clue for S . . .
- Light head in mountain climbing, relative indication something amiss?
- Priest’s devouring kissers . . .
- I spell out one, primarily syntactical, way to indicate missing text
- Some units upset almost falling over …
- … one Greek character constrained by measures
- Golfer circling edge of hole is …
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "…" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case … = ellipsis.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 ELLIPSIS mean?
ELLIPSIS noun- A mark consisting of (in English) three periods, historically or more formally with spaces in between, before, and after them “ . . . ”, or more recently a single character “…” Ellipses are used to indicate that words have been omitted in a text or that they are missing or illegible.
- (grammar) The omission of a word or phrase that can be inferred from the context.
- The omission of scenes in a film that do not advance the plot.
- An ellipse.