keep at bay vs obviate

keep at bay

obviate

adj
  • Synonym of obviative 

verb
  • To avoid (a future problem or difficult situation). 

  • To anticipate and prevent or bypass (something which would otherwise have been necessary or required). 

noun
  • Synonym of obviative 

How often have the words keep at bay and obviate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )