Crossword Genius

Shy away on the subject of company I left (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

recoil

'shy away' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'the subject of company i left' is the wordplay.
'the subject of' becomes 're' (I've seen this in other clues).
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
're'+'co'+'i'+'l'='RECOIL'

'on' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for recoil that I've seen before include "Flinch, shrink back in fear" , "withdraw" , "Flinch, starts back" , "Cringe" , "Kick of gun" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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