Crossword Genius

Bovine disease in insect not there (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

absent

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'not there' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'bovine disease in insect' is the wordplay.
'bovine disease' becomes 'bse' (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, mad cow disease. I am not sure about the 'bovine' bit.).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'insect' becomes 'an't' (ant is a kind of insect).
'bse' put within 'ant' is 'ABSENT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for absent that I've seen before include "Not where one should be" , "AWOL" , "elsewhere" , "lack of attention" , "Not present - vacuous" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sun.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.