Measure recent time changes (10)
I believe the answer is:
centimetre
'measure' is the definition.
(centimetre is a kind of measure)
'recent time changes' is the wordplay.
'changes' indicates an anagram.
'recent'+'time'='recenttime'
'recenttime' with letters rearranged gives 'CENTIMETRE'.
(Other definitions for centimetre that I've seen before include "Hundredth of a metre" , "About four tenths of an inch" , "Short length" , "Measure" , "Short distance" .)