Damage following cold spell (5)
I believe the answer is:
charm
'spell' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'damage following cold' is the wordplay.
'damage' becomes 'harm' ('harm' can be a synonym of 'damage'**).
'following' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'harm' after 'c' is 'CHARM'.
(Other definitions for charm that I've seen before include "Enchant" , "Allure" , "Bracelet ornament" , "Entice" , "Amulet; attractive quality" .)