Ordering fourth chop wasted time (5)
I believe the answer is:
epoch
'time' is the definition.
(I know that epoch is a type of geologic time)
'ordering fourth chop wasted' is the wordplay.
'ordering fourth' becomes 'e' (4th letter of 'ordering').
'wasted' indicates an anagram.
'chop' is an anagram of 'poch'.
'e'+'poch'='EPOCH'
(Other definitions for epoch that I've seen before include "Historical period" , "years" , "Period of notable events" , "extended period" , "Period of time in history" .)