Pinching the feet (5)

I believe the answer is:

theft

'pinching' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'the feet' is the wordplay.
'feet' becomes 'ft' (abbreviation).
'the'+'ft'='THEFT'

(Other definitions for theft that I've seen before include "1 across" , "Job" , "Action of stealing" , "Taking offence?" , "Dishonest appropriation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail and The Telegraph.

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