Avoiding beating, four characters in retreat (8)
I believe the answer is:
skirting
'avoiding' is the definition.
(skirting is a kind of avoiding)
'beating four characters in retreat' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'in' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for skirting that I've seen before include "around walls of room?" , "Going around the edge" , "Avoiding the issue, or trying to" , "Material" , "Board at base of wall" .)