Want thing by church (4)
I believe the answer is:
itch
'want' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'thing by church' is the wordplay.
'thing' becomes 'it'.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'it'+'ch'='ITCH'
(Other definitions for itch that I've seen before include "Yen" , "Skin sensation; desire" , "cause irritation" , "Irritating sensation on skin" , "Slight irritation" .)