To avoid a duel, escaped to the East (5)
I believe the answer is:
elude
'to avoid' is the definition.
(eluding is a kind of avoiding)
'a duel escaped to the east' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
an anagram of 'duel' is 'elud' which is present in the answer.
'east' could be 'e' (synonyms) and 'e' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for elude that I've seen before include "Escape by stratagem" , "Avoid; slip one's mind" , "Avoid first" , "Puzzle" , "Get away from" .)