Keep back from street and avenue and get away (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
stave off
'keep back' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with social activities as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'street and avenue and get away' is the wordplay.
'street' becomes 'st' (abbreviation).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'avenue' becomes 'ave'.
'and get' says to put letters next to each other.
'away' becomes 'off' (synonyms).
'st'+'ave'+'off'='STAVE OFF'
'from' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for stave off that I've seen is " Avert/delay (something)".)