Avoid showing fright catching ball (7)
I believe the answer is:
forbear
'avoid' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'fright catching ball' is the wordplay.
'fright' becomes 'fear' (synonyms).
'catching' indicates putting letters inside.
'ball' becomes 'orb' (both can mean a sphere).
'fear' enclosing 'orb' is 'FORBEAR'.
'showing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for forbear that I've seen before include "Be patient" , "Refrain from doing something" , "Hold back" , "Abstain" .)