evasive action
Deliberate defensive maneuvering
Evasive action is a sudden movement or maneuver intended to avoid something dangerous or unwanted.
The phrase appears most often in military and aviation contexts, where a pilot might take evasive action to dodge enemy fire or avoid a collision.
More broadly, it describes any quick, deliberate change of course—physical or figurative—meant to escape a threat or uncomfortable situation.
- dodgeAvoid by quick movement
- sidestepEvade by moving aside
- bob and weaveEvasive fighting movement
- decoyFalse target for misdirection
- zigzagAngled back-and-forth path
maneuver · escape route · cut and run · avoidance · juke · countermeasure · deke · fake out · feint · misdirection · duck · elude · head fake · veer · change course · swerve · bypass · divert
- drivingdrive, steering, driver, acceleration, motorist
- maneuversmaneuver, feint, sidestep, dodge, duck out
- naval warfarenaval battles, naval battle, battleship, destroyer, sea battles
- submarinessub, subs, torpedo, submarines, hull
- emergency maneuversemergency landing, crash landing, forced landing, ditching, emergency descent
- navigation rulescollision avoidance, give way, right of way, rule of the road, safe speed
evasive actionstanding ground
Refusing to yield position
standing still · confrontation · staying put · counterattack · standing one's ground
evasive actionfrontal assault
Attack from the front
counterattack · charging · confrontation · engagement · attack run
action, actions, evade, evasion, evasive, evaded, actionable, evades, evader