Creep taking the p___ out of Nick (4)
I believe the answer is:
inch
'creep' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the p out of nick' is the wordplay.
'out of' is a deletion indicator ('out of' can mean no longer having).
'nick' becomes 'pinch' (both can mean steal).
'pinch' with 'p' taken away is 'INCH'.
'taking' is the link.
(Other definitions for inch that I've seen before include "Small Scottish island" , "Non-metric measure" , "Crawl; imperial measurement" , "Creep - a very short distance" , "Move very slowly - a very short distance" .)