Piece of brass in a vice (3)

I believe the answer is:

sin

'vice' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'piece of brass in a' is the wordplay.
'piece of' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'SIN' can be found hidden inside 'brass in a'.

(Other definitions for sin that I've seen before include "trip" , "Behave badly" , "Fall from grace" , "Go astray" , "Something wrong" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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