Means it stops and starts in time (7)
I believe the answer is:
intends
'means' is the definition.
('intend' can be a synonym of 'mean')
'it stops and starts in time' is the wordplay.
'it' becomes 'in' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'stops' becomes 'ends' ('end' can be a synonym of 'stop').
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'starts in' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'time' is 't'.
'ends' put after 't' is 'tends'.
'in'+'tends'='INTENDS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for intends that I've seen before include "Aims" , "Has as a purpose" , "Plans, means" .)