forestall vs obviate

forestall

verb
  • To prevent, delay or hinder something by taking precautionary or anticipatory measures; to avert. 

  • To obstruct or stop up, as a road; to stop the passage of a highway; to intercept on the road, as goods on the way to market. 

  • To anticipate, to act foreseeingly. 

  • To preclude or bar from happening, render impossible. 

  • To deprive (with of). 

noun
  • Something situated or placed in front. 

obviate

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

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

adj
  • Synonym of obviative 

noun
  • Synonym of obviative 

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