Sailor initially went for a number of knots (5)

I believe the answer is:

speed

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'number of knots' is the definition.
'speed' can be an answer for 'knots' (thesaurus). I'm not certain of the 'number of' bit.

'sailor initially went' is the wordplay.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'went' becomes 'peed' (both can mean urinated).
The initial letter of 'sailor' is 's'.
's'+'peed'='SPEED'

'for a' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for speed that I've seen before include "Rate of progress" , "Rtae of progress" , "Dispatch" , "Velocity" , "Swiftness" .)

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