To struggle against associate taking criminal cut (9)

I believe the answer is:

reluctate

'to struggle against' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'associate taking criminal cut' is the wordplay.
'associate' becomes 'relate' (relating is a kind of associating).
'taking' indicates putting letters inside.
'criminal' is an anagram indicator.
'cut' anagrammed gives 'uct'.
'relate' placed around 'uct' is 'RELUCTATE'.

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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