Pass finished before Nick (8)
I believe the answer is:
overtake
'pass' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'finished before nick' is the wordplay.
'finished' becomes 'over' (over can mean finished or ended).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'nick' becomes 'take' (nick can informally mean to steal).
'over'+'take'='OVERTAKE'
(Other definitions for overtake that I've seen before include "Leave behind" , "Pass (a vehicle)" , "Pass the car in front" , "Happen to - pass by" , "Go past another person in a race" .)