Took a risk — failed to catch cold (5)
I believe the answer is:
diced
'took a risk' is the definition.
'failed to catch cold' is the wordplay.
'failed' becomes 'died' ('die' can be a synonym of 'fail').
'to catch' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'died' going around 'c' is 'DICED'.
(Other definitions for diced that I've seen before include "getting the chop!" , "Gambled or cut into cubes" , "Chopped; gambled" , "Cut into small cubes" , "Cubed" .)