Note brief tribute with sign of hesitation (10)
I believe the answer is:
memorandum
'note' is the definition.
(I know that memorandum is a type of note)
'brief tribute with sign of hesitation' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'with' could be 'and' and 'and' is found within the answer.
'sign' could be 'mem' (mem is a kind of sign) and 'mem' is found within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found in the answer.
'hesitation' could be 'um' (sound made when hesitating) and 'um' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'r' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for memorandum that I've seen before include "brief note" , "Written message or note" .)