Sailors love to be free -- so acquit (7)
I believe the answer is:
absolve
'acquit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sailors love to be free' is the wordplay.
'sailors' becomes 'abs' (I've seen this in other clues).
'to be free' is an anagram indicator.
'love' with letters rearranged gives 'olve'.
'abs'+'olve'='ABSOLVE'
'so' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for absolve that I've seen before include "Lob vase (anag.)" , "Give pardon" , "Cleanse" , "Excuse" , "Exonerate" .)