When going round the abyss, keeps well away from it (6)
I believe the answer is:
avoids
'well away from it' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'when going round the abyss' is the wordplay.
'when' becomes 'as' (eg 'when I walked' means 'as I walked').
'going round' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters go around others).
'the abyss' becomes 'void' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'as' enclosing 'void' is 'AVOIDS'.
'keeps' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for avoids that I've seen before include "Keeps away or refrains from" , "Escapes" , "Shuns, keeps away from" , "Ducks (out of)" , "Stays away from" .)