Pinch wife in wood (5)
I believe the answer is:
tweak
'pinch' is the definition.
('tweak' can be a synonym of 'pinch')
'wife in wood' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'wood' becomes 'teak' (teak is a kind of wood).
'w' put into 'teak' is 'TWEAK'.
(Other definitions for tweak that I've seen before include "Squeeze with the fingers" , "Slightly alter" , "Pull and twist" , "Twist; adjust finely" , "[TUG]" .)