Rent to lots of sailors (4)
I believe the answer is:
torn
'rent' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'lots of sailors' is the wordplay.
'lots' becomes 't' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'of' becomes 'o''.
'sailors' becomes 'RN' (abbreviation for Royal Navy).
't'+'o'+'rn'='TORN'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for torn that I've seen before include "Undecided between two" , "Rent, ripped" , "Having rips" , "Lacerated - in two minds" , "Removed forcibly" .)