Chap in boat, a second seen round river in Arab state (7)
I believe the answer is:
oarsman
'chap in boat' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'a second seen round river in arab state' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'seen round' is an insertion indicator.
'river' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for river).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'arab state' becomes 'Oman' (Oman is a Middle Eastern country).
'a'+'s'='as'
'as' placed around 'r' is 'ars'.
'ars' inserted inside 'oman' is 'OARSMAN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oarsman that I've seen before include "He rows" , "One in an eight?" , "A male small boat propeller" , "Member of rowing crew" , "galley slave, say" .)