Old man with time for affectionate gesture (3)
I believe the answer is:
pat
'affectionate gesture' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'old man with time' is the wordplay.
'old man' becomes 'pa' (both can mean someone's father).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'pa'+'t'='PAT'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for pat that I've seen before include "Girl" , "Gentle stroke of the hand with fluent repetition" , "Conveniently; light touch" , "'Light touch, on the back say (3)'" , "Small butter piece" .)