Like those old comedians that never die? (5,2)
I believe the answer is:
stand up
'die?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to competing as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stand up that I've seen before include "Fail to keep appointment" , "funny kind of act" , "survive investigation" , "acceptable" , "Kind of comedian" .)