Auditors liberate cow, have tea, then panic (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
freak out
'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" .)