Take it all in at sailor's ball (6)
I believe the answer is:
absorb
'take' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'at sailor's ball' is the wordplay.
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'sailor's' becomes 'ab's' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'ball' becomes 'orb' (both can mean a sphere).
'abs'+'orb' is 'ABSORB'.
'it all in' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for absorb that I've seen before include "Take in, soak up." , "Suck up or take in" , "Occupy the mind fully as good book will" , "Assimilate, integrate" , "Assimilate or take in as a sponge" .)