Long time before November (5)
I believe the answer is:
yearn
'long' is the definition.
(I know that long can be written as yearn)
'time before november' is the wordplay.
'time' becomes 'year' (I've seen this before).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'november' becomes 'N' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'year'+'n'='YEARN'
(Other definitions for yearn that I've seen before include "Have strong desire" , "Hanker" , "Ache, crave" , "Pant - pine" , "Feel desire" .)