Managed to arrest the first man flipping fast (7)
I believe the answer is:
ramadan
'fast' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'managed to arrest the first man flipping' is the wordplay.
'managed' becomes 'ran' (I've seen this before).
'to arrest' is an insertion indicator.
'the first man' becomes 'adam' (I've seen this before).
'flipping' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'adam' written backwards gives 'mada'.
'ran' going around 'mada' is 'RAMADAN'.
(Other definitions for ramadan that I've seen before include "Islam holy month" , "Muslim month of fasting from sunrise to sunset" , "The fasting month for Muslims, ninth of year" , "Month in Muslim calendar" , "Religious festival" .)