Female sailor left half a story (5)
I believe the answer is:
fable
'a story' is the definition.
(I know that fable is a type of story)
'female sailor left half' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'half' means to take half the letters.
'left' cut in half is 'le'.
'f'+'ab'+'le'='FABLE'
(Other definitions for fable that I've seen before include "Short moral story" , "Allegory" , "Myth, legend" , "Story, often with moral" , "Old wives' tale" .)