Part of a ship or dock (5)
I believe the answer is:
orlop
'part of a ship' is the definition.
'orlop' can be an answer for 'part' (I have seen 'part of ship' mean 'orlop' so perhaps 'part' could also mean 'orlop'). I'm unsure of the 'of a ship' bit.
'or dock' is the wordplay.
'dock' becomes 'lop' (both can mean to cut).
'or'+'lop'='ORLOP'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for orlop that I've seen before include "Ship's lowest deck" , "deck at the lowest point" , "hold covering" , "Lowest deck of a wooden sailing ship" , "part of ship" .)