Lift the man by feet (4)
I believe the answer is:
heft
'lift' is the definition.
(hefting is a kind of lifting)
'the man by feet' is the wordplay.
'the man' becomes 'he' (**).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'feet' becomes 'ft' (I've seen this in other clues).
'he'+'ft'='HEFT'
(Other definitions for heft that I've seen before include "Judge the weight" , "Lift in order to heave, say an axe" , "Try to determine weight by lifting" , "Feel the weight of" , "Lift, carry; influence" .)