Receptive sailor dispatched round the world? (9)
I believe the answer is:
absorbent
'receptive' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sailor dispatched round the world?' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'dispatched' becomes 'sent' (I've seen this before).
'round' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'the world?' becomes 'orb' (I have seen 'The World' mean 'orb' so perhaps 'world' could also mean 'orb').
'sent' going around 'orb' is 'sorbent'.
'ab'+'sorbent'='ABSORBENT'
(Other definitions for absorbent that I've seen before include "Able to soak up liquid easily" , "Able to mop up" , "Able to soak up moisture" , "Like a towel" , "Porous" .)