Improperly take a seat, perhaps, before finishing toil (5)
I believe the answer is:
steal
'improperly take a' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'seat perhaps before finishing toil' is the wordplay.
'perhaps' is an anagram indicator.
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'finishing' indicates one should take the final letters (the letter which finishes the word).
The last letter of 'toil' is 'l'.
'seat' is an anagram of 'stea'.
'stea'+'l'='STEAL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for steal that I've seen before include "Filch" , "Take illegally" , "Snatch" , "Walk off with" , "Plagiarise" .)