Sailor told to go away (6)
I believe the answer is:
absent
'away' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'sailor told to go' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'told to go' becomes 'sent' (I've seen this in another clue).
'ab'+'sent'='ABSENT'
(Other definitions for absent that I've seen before include "Not where one should be" , "AWOL" , "Not attending" , "Not present - vacuous" , "Away" .)