Venetian boss secured copper skirt (5)
I believe the answer is:
dodge
'skirt' is the definition.
(I know that skirt can be written as dodge)
'venetian boss secured copper' is the wordplay.
'venetian boss' becomes 'doge' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'secured' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters secured inside).
'copper' becomes 'd'.
'doge' placed around 'd' is 'DODGE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dodge that I've seen before include "Move quickly to avoid" , "Move quickly out of the way of" , "Get out of" , "Avoid or evade by bodily movement" , "Evade; ruse" .)