Admit female in shape on ship (7)
I believe the answer is:
confess
'admit' is the definition.
(I know that confess is a type of admit)
'female in shape on ship' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (common abbreviation).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'shape' becomes 'cone' (cone shape is a kind of shape).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'f' put within 'cone' is 'confe'.
'confe'+'ss'='CONFESS'
(Other definitions for confess that I've seen before include "Concede" , "Tell a priest one's sins" , "Plead guilty (in order to receive absolution?)" , "Admit (to crime)" , "Admit (to wrongdoing)" .)