Take sailor by canal (6)
I believe the answer is:
abduct
'take' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'sailor by canal' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'canal' becomes 'duct' ('duct' can be a synonym of 'canal').
'ab'+'duct'='ABDUCT'
(Other definitions for abduct that I've seen before include "Hijack" , "Take (someone) illegally" , "Kidnap, carry person off by force" , "Kidnap, make off with" , "Remove by force" .)