Pinching the paper (5)

I believe the answer is:

theft

'pinching' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'the paper' is the wordplay.
'paper' becomes 'ft'.
'the'+'ft'='THEFT'

(Other definitions for theft that I've seen before include "Act of larceny" , "Taking of another's property" , "Pilferage" , "Illegal act of taking" , "1 across" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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