Crossword Genius

Soldier employed by the navy (3-2-3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

man-of-war

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'the navy' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.

'soldier employed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'soldier' could be 'man' (man can mean a soldier) and 'man' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ofwar' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'by' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for man-of-war that I've seen before include "A battleship - for a fighter?" , "Fighting ship" , "Old naval ship" , "Armed sailing ship" , "Portuguese --, jellyfish" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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