Hesitate over a long period (3)
I believe the answer is:
era
'long period' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'hesitate over a' is the wordplay.
'hesitate' becomes 'er' (expression used when hesitating).
'over' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'er'+'a'='ERA'
(Other definitions for era that I've seen before include "Period of alteration" , "Age marked by a distinctive character" , "Are involved in time span" , "8" , "Characteristic period" .)