The foreign sailor meets old judge to flesh it out (9)
I believe the answer is:
elaborate
'flesh it out' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'the foreign sailor meets old judge' is the wordplay.
'the foreign' becomes 'el'.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'meets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'judge' becomes 'rate' (rating is a kind of judging).
'el'+'ab'+'o'+'rate'='ELABORATE'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for elaborate that I've seen before include "Complicate" , "Work out or describe in detail" , "Explain details" , "Very ornate or complex" , "very busy" .)