A social worker (3)
I believe the answer is:
ant
'a social worker' is the definition.
(ants are social insects)
'a social' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is present in the answer.
A single letter 't' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ant that I've seen before include "` `Go to the ... thou sluggard' '" , "Member of colony" , "Dec's long-time partner" , "The insect lives in a social colony" , "one living in colonies" .)