Linda occasionally gets in close to cow (10)
I believe the answer is:
intimidate
'cow' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'linda occasionally gets in close' is the wordplay.
'occasionally' indicates alternate letters.
'gets in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'close' becomes 'intimate' ('intimate' can be similar in meaning to 'close'**).
The alternating letters of 'linda' are 'id'.
'id' put into 'intimate' is 'INTIMIDATE'.
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for intimidate that I've seen before include "Frighten" , "Strike fear into" , "Bully" , "Threaten" , "Cow" .)