Bear in the wild to become dormant (9)
I believe the answer is:
hibernate
'become dormant' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'bear in the wild' is the wordplay.
'wild' is an anagram indicator.
'bear'+'in'+'the'='bearinthe'
'bearinthe' with letters rearranged gives 'HIBERNATE'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for hibernate that I've seen before include "remain inactive for months" , "go out in the snow?" , "Breathe in for long winter sleep" , "go dormant" , "Breathe in to settle down for winter sleep" .)