Swipes man, small (5)
I believe the answer is:
nicks
'swipes' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both acts as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'man small' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'N' (knight, a man in chess).
'small' becomes 'icks' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'n'+'icks'='NICKS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nicks that I've seen before include "chips" , "Steals (sl.)" , "Notches - arrests" , "Slangily steals or notches" , "Pinches (slang)" .)