Steal gown, nearly (3)
I believe the answer is:
rob
'steal' is the definition.
(I know that rob is a more specific form of the action steal)
'gown nearly' is the wordplay.
'gown' becomes 'robe' (synonyms).
'nearly' means to remove the last letter.
'robe' with its last letter taken off is 'ROB'.
(Other definitions for rob that I've seen before include "Steal violently" , "Burgle" , "boy's name" , "Mug, say" , "Nick" .)