Permit used with hesitation by person going past (8)
I believe the answer is:
passerby
'person going past' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'permit used with hesitation by' is the wordplay.
'permit' becomes 'pass' (pass is a kind of permit).
'used with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'hesitation' becomes 'er' (sound made while hesitating - um, er).
'pass'+'er'+'by'='PASSERBY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for passerby that I've seen before include "man in the street?" , "one chancing along" .)