Picking up inclination to underpin gravity (8)
I believe the answer is:
gleaning
'picking up' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with contact as well as being present participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'inclination to underpin gravity' is the wordplay.
'inclination' becomes 'leaning' (leaning is a kind of inclination).
'to' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'underpin gravity' becomes 'g' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'leaning' after 'g' is 'GLEANING'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for gleaning that I've seen is " farm work".)