Misplacing (6)
I believe the answer is:
losing
'misplacing' is the definition.
('lose' can be a synonym of 'misplace')
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for losing that I've seen before include "being beaten?" , "Mislaying or ceasing to have" , "Behind in a competition" , "Failing to keep" , "Opposite of 9" .)