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Auditors liberate cow, have tea, then panic (5,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

freak out

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'panic' is the definition.
(I know that freak out is a more specific form of the action panic)

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for freak out that I've seen before include "Lose one's nerve" , "Lose emotional control" , "Get into a heightened emotional state" , "React wildly and irrationally" , "Behave irrationally" .)

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