Swift escape, with little time (5)
I believe the answer is:
fleet
'swift' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'escape with little time' is the wordplay.
'escape' becomes 'flee' (I've seen this before).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'little time' becomes 't' (abbreviation for time).
'flee'+'t'='FLEET'
(Other definitions for fleet that I've seen before include "Group of ships, aircraft etc" , "Fast - group of boats" , "Fast - naval force" , "Street of the hack" , "Squadron" .)