Before time (5)
I believe the answer is:
early
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">before time</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this before)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for early that I've seen before include "Before the ETA" , "sooner than expected" , "Post this for Christmas?" , "Type of bird" , "Opening" .)