Girl eyed criminal in a rapacious way (8)

I believe the answer is:

greedily

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'in a rapacious way' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'girl eyed criminal' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates anagramming the letters.
'girl'+'eyed'='girleyed'
'girleyed' with letters rearranged gives 'GREEDILY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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