obviate

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ob·vi·ate

(ŏb′vē-āt′)

tr.v. ob·vi·at·ed, ob·vi·at·ing, ob·vi·ates

To keep from happening or render unnecessary. See Synonyms at prevent.

[Latin obviāre, obviāt-, to hinder, from obvius, in the way; see obvious.]

ob′vi·a′tion n.

ob′vi·a′tor n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

obviate

(ˈɒbvɪˌeɪt)

(tr) to avoid or prevent (a need or difficulty)

[C16: from Late Latin obviātus prevented, past participle of obviāre; see obvious]

ˌobviˈation n

Usage: Only things that have not yet occurred can be obviated. For example, one can obviate a possible future difficulty, but not one that already exists

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ob•vi•ate

(ˈɒb viˌeɪt)

v.t. -at•ed, -at•ing.

to anticipate and prevent or render unnecessary by effective measures.

[1590–1600; < Latin obviātus, past participle of obviāre to act contrary to, derivative of obvius; see obvious, -ate¹]

ob′vi•a•ble, adj.

ob`vi•a′tion, n.

ob′vi•a`tor, n.

obviate

Past participle: obviated
Gerund: obviating

Imperative
obviate
obviate

Present
I obviate
you obviate
he/she/it obviates
we obviate
you obviate
they obviate

Preterite
I obviated
you obviated
he/she/it obviated
we obviated
you obviated
they obviated

Present Continuous
I am obviating
you are obviating
he/she/it is obviating
we are obviating
you are obviating
they are obviating

Present Perfect
I have obviated
you have obviated
he/she/it has obviated
we have obviated
you have obviated
they have obviated

Past Continuous
I was obviating
you were obviating
he/she/it was obviating
we were obviating
you were obviating
they were obviating

Past Perfect
I had obviated
you had obviated
he/she/it had obviated
we had obviated
you had obviated
they had obviated

Future
I will obviate
you will obviate
he/she/it will obviate
we will obviate
you will obviate
they will obviate

Future Perfect
I will have obviated
you will have obviated
he/she/it will have obviated
we will have obviated
you will have obviated
they will have obviated

Future Continuous
I will be obviating
you will be obviating
he/she/it will be obviating
we will be obviating
you will be obviating
they will be obviating

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been obviating
you have been obviating
he/she/it has been obviating
we have been obviating
you have been obviating
they have been obviating

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been obviating
you will have been obviating
he/she/it will have been obviating
we will have been obviating
you will have been obviating
they will have been obviating

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been obviating
you had been obviating
he/she/it had been obviating
we had been obviating
you had been obviating
they had been obviating

Conditional
I would obviate
you would obviate
he/she/it would obviate
we would obviate
you would obviate
they would obviate

Past Conditional
I would have obviated
you would have obviated
he/she/it would have obviated
we would have obviated
you would have obviated
they would have obviated

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb	1.	obviate - do away with rid of, eliminate close out, rule out, preclude - make impossible, especially beforehand necessitate, need, require, call for, demand, postulate, involve, ask, take - require as useful, just, or proper; "It takes nerve to do what she did"; "success usually requires hard work"; "This job asks a lot of patience and skill"; "This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice"; "This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert"; "This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent"
	2.	obviate - prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike" deflect, fend off, forefend, forfend, head off, stave off, ward off, avert, avoid, debar foreclose, forestall, preclude, prevent, forbid - keep from happening or arising; make impossible; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"; "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"

obviate

verb (Formal) avert, avoid, remove, prevent, counter, do away with, preclude, counteract, ward off, stave off, forestall, render unnecessary This would obviate the need for a surgical operation.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

obviate

verb

To prohibit from occurring by advance planning or action:

avert, forestall, forfend, preclude, prevent, rule out, stave off, ward (off).

Idiom: nip in the bud.

Translations

empêcher obvier prévenir

evitare ovviare

obviate

[ˈɒbvɪeɪt] VT → obviar, evitar
to obviate the need for sth → evitar or ahorrar la necesidad de algo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

obviate

[ˈɒbvieɪt] vt [+ problem, need] → parer à, obvier à

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

obviate

vt → vermeiden, umgehen; need → vorbeugen (+dat)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

obviate

[ˈɒbvɪˌeɪt] (frm) vt (danger, objection) → evitare; (necessity) → ovviare a

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References in classic literature ?

The bordering States, if any, will be those who, under the impulse of sudden irritation, and a quick sense of apparent interest or injury, will be most likely, by direct violence, to excite war with these nations; and nothing can so effectually obviate that danger as a national government, whose wisdom and prudence will not be diminished by the passions which actuate the parties immediately interested.

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Before I proceed farther, I shall beg leave to obviate some misconstructions into which the zeal of some few readers may lead them; for I would not willingly give offence to any, especially to men who are warm in the cause of virtue or religion.

View in context

The difficulty thus placed in my way I, determined to obviate in the following manner.

View in context

'Yes, to obviate his becoming such a gentleman as his father.'

View in context

TO obviate the danger of this threat being fulfilled, Mr.

View in context

I had hired small lodgings, which I contrived to pay for out of a slender fund--the accumulated savings of my Eton pocket-money; for as it had ever been abhorrent to my nature to ask pecuniary assistance, I had early acquired habits of self-denying economy; husbanding my monthly allowance with anxious care, in order to obviate the danger of being forced, in some moment of future exigency, to beg additional aid.

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Saudi Arabia's rescue package and financial support commitment from China do not obviate the need for Pakistan's entry into International Monetary Fund loan programme due to size of the funding gap, a brokerage said yesterday.

Pakistan needs IMF loan despite Arab countries' support

It will be better if reasonable tax on land prices is fixed for each housing scheme and locality to simplify taxation and obviate hassles.

Facilitating non-filers (2)

'The Court finds it incredulous that at this advanced stage in this case, in which the accused has been actively participating, he still stands ignorant and oblivious of the incriminatory evidence against him to need an extra phase in the proceedings, unsupported by the Rules of Court at that, in order to obviate an imagined burden,' the court said.

Sandigan rejects Revilla's 'incredulous' motion

'While we understand Calvin may be going through some troubling personal issues, it does not obviate his responsibility to his team.

Alaska suspends Abueva indefinitely for going AWOL

Additionally, negative imaging results do not obviate the possibility of SWS diagnosis, the investigators reported.