Crossword Genius

A sailor heard being offensive (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

assault

'being offensive' is the definition.
('assault' can be similar in meaning to 'offensive')

'a sailor heard' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'salt' (salt is a kind of sailor).
'heard' shows a homophone (sound like).
'salt' is a homophone of 'ssault'.
'a'+'ssault'='ASSAULT'

(Other definitions for assault that I've seen before include "offensive" , "Strike" , "The fool starts the attack" , "Attack physically" , "Mount an attack" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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