Robbery article with fort emptied (5)
I believe the answer is:
theft
'robbery' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'article with fort emptied' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'emptied' suggests removing the centre.
'fort' with its middle taken out is 'ft'.
'the'+'ft'='THEFT'
(Other definitions for theft that I've seen before include "Burglary" , "Misappropriation" , "crime incident" , "Act of stealing" , "Pilfering" .)