Spooner's gardening blade nicked body (6)

I believe the answer is:

cohort

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'body' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I don't understand the remainder of the clue.

(Other definitions for cohort that I've seen before include "One of ten in a Roman Legion" , "team of soldiers" , "One-tenth of a Roman legion, or a group of people" , "troops" , "Group of people with a shared characteristic, age say" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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