Figure almost dead? A long time left (7)
I believe the answer is:
numeral
'figure' is the definition.
(a numeral is a figure representing a number)
'almost dead? a long time left' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (almost the whole word is kept).
'dead?' becomes 'numb' (as in a dead arm).
'a long time' becomes 'era' (a long period of time).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'numb' with its final letter removed is 'num'.
'num'+'era'+'l'='NUMERAL'
(Other definitions for numeral that I've seen before include "Symbol representing one or two, perhaps?" , "Such as 5, 9, iii, etc" , "Figure representing a value" , "Figure denoting a number" , "Affable and sociable" .)