Sailor, spiteful sort breaking fall, finds step down (8)
I believe the answer is:
abdicate
'step down' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'sailor spiteful sort breaking fall' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'spiteful sort' becomes 'cat' (catty person).
'breaking' indicates putting letters inside.
'fall' becomes 'die'.
'cat' going into 'die' is 'dicate'.
'ab'+'dicate'='ABDICATE'
'finds' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for abdicate that I've seen before include "stand down" , "quit" , "Abandon" , "Give up a throne" , "Give up power" .)