Crossword Genius

Piercing, small missile (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

strident

'piercing' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'small missile' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'missile' becomes 'Trident' (UK nuclear weapons system).
's'+'trident'='STRIDENT'

(Other definitions for strident that I've seen before include "Commanding attention" , "With a loud, harsh voice" , "Clamorous" , "making loud noises" , "harsh noise" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.