The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word NAIL-BITING
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
N
A
I
L
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B
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T
I
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G
More clues leading to the result NAIL-BITING
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Catch cold/as anxious" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case catch cold/as anxious = nail-biting.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does NAIL-BITING mean?
NAIL-BITING adjective- That causes nervous anticipation or suspense