He possibly pilfers skirts and pants (5)
I believe the answer is:
gasps
'pants' is the definition.
('gasp' can be a synonym of 'pant')
'he possibly pilfers skirts' is the wordplay.
'he possibly' becomes 'gas' (he is a kind of gas).
'skirts' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (retain the edges).
'pilfers' with its centre removed is 'ps'.
'gas'+'ps'='GASPS'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for gasps that I've seen before include "Draws breath sharply" , "'Pants, puffs (5)'" .)