Clerk travelling on English ship gets rash (8)
I believe the answer is:
reckless
'rash' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'clerk travelling on english ship' is the wordplay.
'travelling' is an anagram indicator.
'on' indicates putting letters inside (as in clothing 'on' a person).
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'clerk' is an anagram of 'rckle'.
'rckle' placed around 'e' is 'reckle'.
'reckle'+'ss'='RECKLESS'
'gets' is the link.
(Other definitions for reckless that I've seen before include "Without thought for the consequences" , "Foolhardy, rash" , "Utterly unconcerned for the consequences" , "Devil-may-care" , "Daredevil" .)