Took a guess, quite vague - triggering dread (8)

I believe the answer is:

hazarded

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'took' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'a guess quite vague triggering dread' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'dread' is 'arded' which is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for hazarded that I've seen is " Risked".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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