Sailor obtains marks for shooting (7)
I believe the answer is:
targets
'marks for shooting' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their -s form, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'sailor obtains' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'tar' (slang term for a sailor).
'obtains' becomes 'gets' ('get' can be a synonym of 'obtain').
'tar'+'gets'='TARGETS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for targets that I've seen before include "objectives of firing people" , "Goals" , "Reference points to shoot at" , "Aim points" , "Butts" .)