Grabbing wife and taking a break (8)
I believe the answer is:
wresting
'grabbing' is the definition.
('wrest' can be a synonym of 'grab')
'wife and taking a break' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'taking a break' becomes 'resting' (resting is a kind of taking a break).
'w'+'resting'='WRESTING'
(Other definitions for wresting that I've seen before include "Extracting" , "Strewing (anag.)" .)