Sailor posted around globe for soaking (9)
I believe the answer is:
absorbent
'soaking' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'sailor posted around globe' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'posted' becomes 'sent' ('send' can be a synonym of 'post').
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'globe' becomes 'orb' ('orb' can be a synonym of 'globe').
'sent' placed around 'orb' is 'sorbent'.
'ab'+'sorbent'='ABSORBENT'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for absorbent that I've seen before include "Such material is able to take in water" , "Permeable" , "Porous" , "Able to soak up liquid easily" , "Bob ran set (anag.)" .)