Lifting the foot (5)

I believe the answer is:

theft

'lifting' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'the foot' is the wordplay.
'foot' becomes 'ft' ('ft' can be a synonym of 'foot').
'the'+'ft'='THEFT'

(Other definitions for theft that I've seen before include "Illegal act of taking" , "Unlawful taking" , "A 19" , "heavy crime" , "Pilfering" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph, The Globe and Mail and the Sydney Morning Herald.

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