Condescends to work in a ship (6)
I believe the answer is:
stoops
'condescends' is the definition.
(I know this)
'to work in a ship' is the wordplay.
'work' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'a ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'to'+'op'='toop'
'toop' inserted into 'ss' is 'STOOPS'.
(Other definitions for stoops that I've seen before include "Condescends" , "Bends over" , "Descends steeply (of a bird of prey)" , "Goldsmith play 'She ...... to Conquer'" .)