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" .)