Directed to cover cold trail (5)
I believe the answer is:
scent
'trail' is the definition.
(an animal's trail is its scent)
'directed to cover cold' is the wordplay.
'directed' becomes 'sent' ('send' can be a synonym of 'direct').
'to cover' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'sent' placed around 'c' is 'SCENT'.
(Other definitions for scent that I've seen before include "Distinctive smell" , "Number of clues" , "Distinctive aroma" , "Bouquet" , "Whiff" .)