Take place of old scoundrel nursing cold (5)
I believe the answer is:
occur
'take place' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'old scoundrel nursing cold' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'scoundrel' becomes 'cur' (cur can mean a despicable person).
'nursing' indicates putting letters inside.
'cold' becomes 'C' (abbreviation, eg on taps).
'cur' placed around 'c' is 'ccur'.
'o'+'ccur'='OCCUR'
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for occur that I've seen before include "Befall" , "appear" , "exist" , "Spring to mind" , "found" .)