Cold drink creates round of applause (4)
I believe the answer is:
clap
'round of applause' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'cold drink' is the wordplay.
'cold' becomes 'C' (abbreviation, eg on taps).
'drink' becomes 'lap' (to lap is to drink up).
'c'+'lap'='CLAP'
'creates' is the link.
(Other definitions for clap that I've seen before include "A meeting of hands" , "Pat" , "Applaud manually" , "cheer" , "express approval" .)