Something is coming straight at you. You do not back away and you do not stop. You put one foot out to the side, shift your weight, and it goes past you. Every use of sidestep can be held in that one step: you did not meet the thing head on, and it did not stop you either.
Wiktionary gives sidestep simply as side + step, so the word says what it does: a step taken to the side.
Wiktionary 把 sidestep 拆成 side（旁邊）加 step（一步）。這個字本身就把動作說完了：往側邊踏出的那一步。
Wiktionary entry for sidestep (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:855234875): From side + step.
Two branches
身體真的往旁邊踏一步
這一族就是核心畫面本身，沒有轉彎：腳真的往側邊移，人或東西從旁邊過去。
verb · B2
To take a quick step to one side, usually so that something or someone moving toward you goes past instead of hitting you. You can use it on its own, or put the thing you avoid straight after it.
側身閃開
把難題當成迎面來的東西，繞過去
同一步搬到說話和決定上：難題像是走過來的人，你不迎上去，往旁邊一踏就過去了，而問題還留在原地。這是理解上的連結，不是說比喻用法比字面用法更早出現。
verb · C1
To avoid dealing with a difficult problem, subject or question — you get past it instead of facing it, often by talking about something else or by finding a way around a rule.
迴避（問題）