Material offered by officer putting worker off (5)

I believe the answer is:

serge

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'material' is the definition.
(I know that serge is a type of material)

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for serge that I've seen before include "Material to suit" , "Strong twilled worsted fabric" , "Stuff" , "A twill fabric" , "Frenchman" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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