Act of avoidance (5)
I believe the answer is:
dodge
'act of avoidance' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for dodge that I've seen before include "Evade; ruse" , "Duck, move to avoid" , "Evade cunningly" , "Get out of" , "Avoid by quick movement" .)