Avoid
Avoid verb - To get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery.
Close in
Close in verb - To come near or nearer.
Both terms in one sentence
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Knowing how badly outgunned they are, the pirates close in to try and board... At which point the readers are informed it's a steam frigate in the context of the frigate moving away to avoid the boarding.
Source: Didn't See That Coming -
When that fails and as the detectives discover he's the real killer and close in on him, he kills himself to avoid arrest, preventing any real justice to be found in the case and leaving his wife a widow and stepson fatherless for the second time.
Source: Series / Cold Case - With the random traffic spawns (traffic cars spawning too close in front of you to avoid right when the race begins is not unheard of) and players out to ram you off the road at every opportunity, this is easier said than done.
Source: That One Achievement
Cite this Source
Close in and Avoid. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/avoid/close_in
Avoid & Close in. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/avoid/close_in>.
Close in or Avoid. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/avoid/close_in.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "avoid" and "close in" have occurred on timeline