Pay wife over a long time (5)
I believe the answer is:
wages
'pay' is the definition.
(I know that pay can be written as wages)
'wife over a long time' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'over' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, some letters go over others).
'a long time' becomes 'ages' (ages can mean a very long time).
'w'+'ages'='WAGES'
(Other definitions for wages that I've seen before include "Reward" , "Carries on" , "Worker's earnings" , "Weekly pay" , "Salary" .)