Sailor gives great deal to wife (7)
I believe the answer is:
matelot
'sailor' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'great deal to wife' is the wordplay.
'great deal' becomes 'lot' (I've seen this before).
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'wife' becomes 'mate'.
'lot' after 'mate' is 'MATELOT'.
'gives' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for matelot that I've seen before include "Sailor (slang from French)" , "A lot met (anag) - sailor" , "Rating" , "One at sea" , "One sailor" .)