Behind a ship (3)
I believe the answer is:
ass
'behind' is the definition.
('ass' can be a synonym of 'behind')
'a ship' is the wordplay.
'ship' becomes 'ss'.
'a'+'ss'='ASS'
(Other definitions for ass that I've seen before include "Quadruped; fool" , "Horse hybrid" , "Pompous fool or beast of burden" , "Dipstick" , "Turkey" .)