Refuse, as not working on a line (5)
I believe the answer is:
offal
'refuse' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'not working on a line' is the wordplay.
'not working' becomes 'off' (I've seen this in other clues).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'line' becomes 'l'.
'off'+'a'+'l'='OFFAL'
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for offal that I've seen before include "Liver, kidneys etc - rubbish" , "Edible animal viscera" , "Edible organs from a butchered animal" , "Entrails/organs as food" , "Meaty waste" .)