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Obviate   Listen
verb
Obviate  v. t.  (past & past part. obviated; pres. part. obviating)  
1.
To meet in the way. (Obs.) "Not to stir a step to obviate any of a different religion."
2.
To anticipate; to prevent by interception; to remove from the way or path; to make unnecessary; as, to obviate the necessity of going. "To lay down everything in its full light, so as to obviate all exceptions."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Obviate" Quotes from Famous Books



... hunting and winter use I like what are called "continuations" fixed to breeches, as these gaiter-like pieces of cloth cover the leg to a certain distance below the swell of the calf, and keep it warm, besides preventing the knee of the breeches from working round, which men obviate by using garter-straps. Leather breeches for ladies' use are too unsanitary to ...
— The Horsewoman - A Practical Guide to Side-Saddle Riding, 2nd. Ed. • Alice M. Hayes

... temporary connection which gave rise to the apparent anomalies which we have been considering. It was a custom which had for its object, not to interrupt but to preserve the lineal succession of the chiefs, and to obviate the very evil of which it is conceived to afford a glaring example. But after the introduction of the feudal law, which, in this respect, was directly opposed to the ancient Highland law, the lineal and legitimate heir, according ...
— Bundling; Its Origin, Progress and Decline in America • Henry Reed Stiles

... maidens of the same or even of a consanguineous family. This is probably a political device to preserve nationality and provide against a common enemy. The bride, as usual in the East, is rarely consulted, but frequent tete a tetes at the well and in the bush when tending cattle effectually obviate this inconvenience: her relatives settle the marriage portion, which varies from a cloth and a bead necklace to fifty sheep or thirty dollars, and dowries are unknown. In the towns marriage ceremonies are ...
— First footsteps in East Africa • Richard F. Burton

... freedom of fishermen to contract for payment in proportion to the profits realized on their fish, would be inexpedient; but it is not impossible to frame an enactment which, leaving them this power, should require payment, weekly or monthly, of such a proportion of their earnings as would obviate the necessity of living ...
— Second Shetland Truck System Report • William Guthrie

... in order to obviate all injurious constructions that might be put upon the adventure of the preceding night, went and threw herself at the queen's feet; where, acting the new part of an innocent Magdalen, she entreated her majesty's forgiveness for all the sorrow and uneasiness she might have already ...
— The Memoirs of Count Grammont, Complete • Anthony Hamilton

... and the Bucentaur; and the starboard guns of the middle and lower decks were depressed, and fired with a diminished charge of powder, and three shot each, into the Redoutable. This mode of firing was adopted by Lieutenants WILLIAMS, KING, YULE, and BROWN, to obviate the danger of the Temeraire's suffering from the Victory's shot passing through the Redoutable; which must have been the case if the usual quantity of powder, and the common elevation, had been given to the guns.—A circumstance ...
— The Death of Lord Nelson • William Beatty

... you are aware of his escapade, so I need not explain it. He is not very gracious to either of us, and absolutely refuses all offers of assistance either for himself or his sister. However, I hope to be able to keep a certain watch over him without offending him, and to obviate some of the difficulties in his way, perhaps unknown to him. Marilda has, as usual, suffered greatly on the voyage, but the little Lida, as he calls her, has been most attentive and useful both ...
— The Long Vacation • Charlotte M. Yonge

... accompanied the family to the church, (Greek rite,) where the priest was waiting to receive me. It was a poverty-stricken edifice, purposely kept so, in order to obviate the envy and malice of the Mohammedans; and all the Christians that I saw in Gaza were a stupid-looking people; they are few in number, and grievously oppressed by their numerous Moslem fellow-townsmen, being far away from the notice ...
— Byeways in Palestine • James Finn

... To obviate, therefore, every one's jealousy, I gave up to my father's management, as you know, not only the estate, but the money bequeathed me (which was a moiety of what my grandfather had by him at his death; the other moiety ...
— Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9) • Samuel Richardson

... the speculator might say: 'To lodge my workmen close to the door of my factory would obviate this inconvenience. Let us make the calculation. In Paris the married workman pays about two hundred and fifty francs a-year,(30) for one or two wretched rooms and a closet, dark, small, unhealthy, in a narrow, miserable street; there he lives pell-mell with ...
— The Wandering Jew, Complete • Eugene Sue

... American imports into France, and Mr. Schoninger states that he has met with the greatest kindness and that the French customs authorities have agreed to accept guarantees from various commercial syndicates instead of actual immediate cash payments. This will obviate difficulties occasioned by the refusal of French banking establishments, acting under the terms of the moratorium, in handing over funds which ...
— Paris War Days - Diary of an American • Charles Inman Barnard

... specially-devised instrument for accomplishing this end. Most American watches have the hole for the jewel pin "a world too wide" for it, and we have heard repeated complaints from this cause. Probably the original object of this accommodating sort of hole was to favor or obviate faults of pallet action. Let us suppose, for illustration, that we have a roller with the usual style of hole for a jewel pin which will take almost anything from the size of a No. 12 sewing needle up to ...
— Watch and Clock Escapements • Anonymous

... without looking up; "it's the outcrop of that mine." She handed it to him as if to obviate any further remark. "I thought you had ...
— A Phyllis of the Sierras • Bret Harte

... you come to shave them. The grain of most trees naturally inclines towards the sun, or the same way round the tree as the sun's course. Consequently, a tree may be perfectly straight in the grain, where you chop it down, yet, ten or twelve feet up, it may wind so much as to be totally useless. To obviate this difficulty, attend to the following hints.:—First, select a good-sized tree, the larger the better, perfectly clear of outside knots for fifty or sixty feet. The head should be luxuriant, and the large limbs drooping downwards. Peel off with your axe a stripe ...
— Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West - The Experience of an Early Settler (Volume I) • Samuel Strickland

... report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, issued in January, 1915, emphasized the desirability of the attendance of Indian children at near-by public schools, to obviate the dreaded separation from parents which is entailed when they must be sent by the government ...
— Home Missions In Action • Edith H. Allen

... lachrymalia in the human head. When deer are thirsty they plunge their noses, like some horses, very deep under water, while in the act of drinking, and continue them in that situation for a considerable time: but, to obviate any inconveniency, they can open two vents, one at the inner corner of each eye, having a communication with the nose. Here seems to be an extraordinary provision of nature worthy our attention, and which has not, that I know of, been ...
— The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 1 • Gilbert White

... evident, when we reflect upon the intricate construction of language, that this method of saving labor, though it may be made still more useful than at present, must always be restricted within a limited circle of operations. Nor would any number of combination-letters obviate the necessity of composition by hand. The printer would still be obliged to stand at the case, picking up type after type, turning each one around and over, and so arranging the words in his "stick." ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 79, May, 1864 • Various

... use of wire ties is that the metal is exposed at the face of the work when they are clipped off unless the concrete is chipped and the cavity plastered. To obviate this objection various forms of removable "heads" have been devised. Two such devices are shown by Figs. 104 and 105. In both the bolt is unscrewed, leaving the "heads" embedded. The head shown by Fig. 104 has the advantage that it can be made by any blacksmith, while ...
— Concrete Construction - Methods and Costs • Halbert P. Gillette

... development. Valves in the haemorrhoidal veins would be out of place in quadrupeds, but their absence in man is a serious defect in his organization, since the resulting engorgement of blood gives rise to the distressing disease known as piles. The presence of valves would obviate this. ...
— Man And His Ancestor - A Study In Evolution • Charles Morris

... observe upon the advantage which would have been gained if our grandfathers would have looked at the French Revolution scientifically. A terrible catastrophe had occurred abroad. The true moral, as we all see now, was that England should make such reforms as would obviate the danger of a similar catastrophe at home. The moral which too many people drew was too often, that all reforms should be stopped; with the result that the evils grew worse and social strata more profoundly ...
— Social Rights and Duties, Volume I (of 2) - Addresses to Ethical Societies • Sir Leslie Stephen

... that the superior lightness and durability of the Liberty motor will obviate some of these objections to the commercial availability of aircraft in times of peace. And it is certain that with the cessation of the war, the retirement of the governments of the world from the purchasing field and the reduction of the demand ...
— Aircraft and Submarines - The Story of the Invention, Development, and Present-Day - Uses of War's Newest Weapons • Willis J. Abbot

... To obviate that difficulty, we must be content to change our habit more slowly. Suppose we come home Saturday night all tired out; go to bed and go to sleep, and wake Sunday almost more tired than when we went to bed. On Sunday we do not have ...
— Nerves and Common Sense • Annie Payson Call

... the defect of reason be about something which a man is able and ought to know, he is not altogether excused from sin, and the defect is imputed to him as a sin. The defect which belongs only to the act of directing the other powers, is always imputed to reason as a sin, because it can always obviate this defect by ...
— Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) - From the Complete American Edition • Saint Thomas Aquinas

... surprise, and alarm. But habitual levity soon conquered other feelings, and, finding himself freed from the presence of a man who had treated him with so little ceremony, the ex-governor shook his head, like one accustomed to submit to evils he could not obviate, and assumed the ease and insolent superiority he was accustomed to maintain in the presence ...
— The Water-Witch or, The Skimmer of the Seas • James Fenimore Cooper

... it upon this array of evils; and in proportion to the elasticity is the severity of the evils which follow. This is not only a 'gloomy view,' but again seems to suggest that 'vice' is an alternative to 'misery.' Vices are bad, it would seem, but at least they obviate the necessity for disease and famine. Malthus probably suppressed the passage because he thought it liable to this interpretation. It indicates, however, a real awkwardness, if not something more, in his exposition. He here speaks as if there was room ...
— The English Utilitarians, Volume II (of 3) - James Mill • Leslie Stephen

... scheme of that nature could be entertained. Although a tyro in such matters, I made an attempt to solve the problem, and accordingly prepared drawings, with a description of my design, for employing Steam power as the tractive agency for trains of canal barges, in such a manner as to obviate all risk of ...
— James Nasmyth's Autobiography • James Nasmyth

... from its giving Marble any uneasiness, he anticipated the blow with pleasure, as he intended to lay the Crisis aboard in its height. He fancied that success would then be the most certain. His whole concern was at not being able to find the ship in the darkness; and it was to obviate this difficulty that he undertook to pilot us up to her in the ...
— Afloat And Ashore • James Fenimore Cooper

... how should I dread to open it! Be, however, as honest as your good nature and delicacy will allow you to be, and assure yourself I shall be very certain that all your criticisms will proceed from your earnest wishes to obviate 146 ...
— The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay Volume 1 • Madame D'Arblay

... such as are supported by undeniable documents. Before entering upon these, it is proper to premise, that, instead of following precisely the order of time, these discoveries will be classed under the heads of the different coasts upon which they were made: an arrangement which will obviate the confusion that would arise from being carried back from one coast to another, as must, of necessity, be the case, were the chronological order to ...
— A Voyage to Terra Australis • Matthew Flinders

... explained to me that this party was one of a series of Germans given at the houses of her friends, and that there had been some feeling on the part of certain young ladies because others had been oftener asked to dance the German and drive home afterward than they had. In order to obviate this a system of lots had been arranged, by which chance alone decided the matter. "Each young gentleman," concluded Mrs. Slater, "can bring any young lady that he wishes to the party; but he is expected to go home with the lady whom he draws for the German. I hope you understand what is ...
— Stories by American Authors, Volume 7 • Various

... title was assumed by the Caliph Omar to obviate the inconvenience of calling himself "Khalifah" (successor) of the Khalifah of the Apostle of Allah (i.e. Abu Bakr); which after a few generations would become impossible. It means "Emir (chief or prince) of the Muumins," men who hold to the (true ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1 • Richard F. Burton

... It will obviate considerable delay and inconvenience, if the defendant will sign and file his personal answer, admitting the plaintiff's allegations of residence, marriage, children, etc., but denying the cause of action. This answer should also contain an express waiver of notice of all ...
— Reno - A Book of Short Stories and Information • Lilyan Stratton

... walls of the quays. These inundations were one of the curses of Florence, and tho the evil has been, to a certain extent, cured by the construction of massive quays, they still occur in the direction of the Cascine. An attempt was accordingly made in the twelfth century to obviate this inconvenience by the construction of a stone bridge. This, in turn, was carried away in 1333, and Taddeo Gaddi, who had already made a name for himself by his architectural skill, was employed to build a bridge ...
— Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 7 - Italy, Sicily, and Greece (Part One) • Various

... the sun, after which he nicely scrapes and smooths off the outside. He next proceeds to soak these strips, which are thus made to go through a sort of tanning process, to render them tough and pliable, as well as to obviate their liability to crack by exposure to the sun. After the materials are thus prepared, he smooths off a level piece of ground, and drives around the outside a line of strong stakes, so that the space within shall describe the exact form of the boat in contemplation. Inside of these stakes ...
— Gaut Gurley • D. P. Thompson

... But an old maiden aunt, whom, rest her soul! I never saw, for family pride's sake, bequeathed me an independence. To obviate his lordship's difficulties, I mean to—to marry into this humdrum ...
— John Bull - The Englishman's Fireside: A Comedy, in Five Acts • George Colman

... To obviate the danger of this threat being fulfilled, Mr. Linton commissioned me to take the boy home early, on Catherine's pony; and, said he—'As we shall now have no influence over his destiny, good or bad, you must say nothing ...
— Wuthering Heights • Emily Bronte

... the difficulties that beset the subject on every side. It is for the impartial and dispassionate observers who have mastered all the subtleties of the science, if such can be found, to determine whether the remedies that have been resorted to to obviate the above inaccuracies and their causes, have fulfilled their end, and are not exposed to similar errors. But it would be vain to expect the persons, who have "scorned delights, and lived laborious days" to possess themselves of the mysteries of astronomy, should be impartial ...
— Thoughts on Man - His Nature, Productions and Discoveries, Interspersed with - Some Particulars Respecting the Author • William Godwin

... is married to an adult man, she often receives mechanical injuries in the act of intercourse; and they contend, in addition, that child-marriage is injurious to the offspring. For, by child-marriage, we obviate any possibility of sexual selection within the limits of a particular caste, inasmuch as persons are bound together in marriage whose defective constitution and inferior mental endowments may not become apparent until long after marriage, and yet the ...
— The Sexual Life of the Child • Albert Moll

... present length or the present rate for a shorter day. A universal reduction of the period of labor would have to mean a reduction of the product of industry, and without immediate improvements in method of production it would entail smaller wages. Improvements, however, might soon obviate that necessity. With machinery growing more and more efficient, the day may be shortened with no diminution of wages; and the natural effect of increasing power to produce has always been some shortening of labor-time ...
— Social Justice Without Socialism • John Bates Clark

... friends look their last? It has had time to repent while compelled to crouch and behold the result of its work, and it has shrived itself into a state of comparative purity. If I had my way, I should stay inside my bones until the coffin had gone into its niche, that I might obviate for my poor old comrade the tragic impersonality of death. And I should like to see justice done to it, as it were—to see it lowered among its ancestors with the ceremony and solemnity that are its due. I am afraid that if I dissevered myself too quickly, I should ...
— The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories • Gertrude Atherton

... The details of such a law require careful consideration, but the general plan suggested by him seems to satisfy the purpose—to continue the use of silver in connection with our currency and at the same time to obviate the danger of which I have spoken. At a later day I may communicate further with Congress upon ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Volume IX. • Benjamin Harrison

... of a separate family amidst the clan necessarily disturbs the established unity. A separate family means separate property and accumulation of wealth. We saw how the Eskimos obviate its inconveniences; and it is one of the most interesting studies to follow in the course of ages the different institutions (village communities, guilds, and so on) by means of which the masses endeavoured to maintain the tribal unity, ...
— Mutual Aid • P. Kropotkin

... diet, and the most perfect rest; we may employ all those remedies, which are ordinarily best calculated to reduce inflammation: but so long as the thorn continues in the wound, our efforts will be fruitless. Thus it is with cholera. We may obviate the more violent symptoms; we may procure temporary relief; we may even flatter ourselves that a cure has been effected: but the original causes have not lost their power; an increased susceptibility to their ...
— North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826 • Various

... was not entirely convinced. He started whenever a shutter flapped, or the draughts, which searched the grim old building through and through, threatened to extinguish our lights. He hung cloaks over the windows to obviate the latter inconvenience he said—and was continually going out and coming back with gloomy looks. Parabere joined me in rallying him, which we did without mercy; but when I had occasion, after a while, to pass through the outer room I found that he was not alone in his fears. The troopers sat moodily ...
— From the Memoirs of a Minister of France • Stanley Weyman

... time of Elizabeth the peers were judges of the validity of elections to the House of Commons. From their jurisdiction sprang the proverb that the members returned ought to be without the three P's—sine Prece, sine Pretio, sine Poculo. This did not obviate rotten boroughs. In 1293, the Court of Peers in France had still the King of England under their jurisdiction; and Philippe le Bel cited Edward I. to appear before him. Edward I. was the king who ordered his son to boil him down after death, and to carry his bones to the wars. ...
— The Man Who Laughs • Victor Hugo

... these preparations, the bass-viol and fiddles were taken from their nook, and the strings examined and screwed a little above concert-pitch, that they might keep their tone when the service began, to obviate the awkward contingency of having to retune them at the back of the gallery during a cough, sneeze, or amen—an inconvenience which had been known to ...
— Under the Greenwood Tree • Thomas Hardy

... process has proceeded sufficiently far, the boiling is stopped and free steam allowed to fill the vat to obviate any discoloration of the fatty acids by contact with the air, whilst the contents of ...
— The Handbook of Soap Manufacture • W. H. Simmons

... flexible, and it allows the dog to exert his whole strength. The objection to sealskin as a harness material is a gastronomic one. When the dogs are on short rations they eat their harnesses at night in camp. To obviate this difficulty, I use for the harnesses a special webbing or belting, about two or two and a half inches in width, and replace the customary rawhide traces of the Eskimos by a braided linen ...
— The North Pole - Its Discovery in 1909 under the auspices of the Peary Arctic Club • Robert E. Peary

... easiest way to abate Indian troubles. The savages were supported by the fur-trading interests that centred at Quebec and London.... The Southerners on their part wished for Florida and they thought that the conquest of Canada would obviate some Northern opposition to this acquisition of slave territory." While Clay and Calhoun, spokesmen of the West and South, were not unmindful of what Napoleon had done to American commerce, they knew that their followers still remembered ...
— History of the United States • Charles A. Beard and Mary R. Beard

... value, as to supersede any attempt that might be made for a detailed biography; and none of the earlier sketches of his life is sufficiently minute or accurate to answer the purpose intended. In order to obviate the necessity of the reader having recourse to other authorities, I have added some chronological notices of the leading events in his life; reserving to the conclusion of the work any remarks, in connexion with this publication, that may ...
— The Works of John Knox, Vol. 1 (of 6) • John Knox

... the winter. On the 19th of March, the year following, setting out on his journey, he soon arrived at the Presidio of St. John Baptist. M. de St. Denis declared these goods to be his own property, in order to obviate their confiscation, which was otherwise unavoidable; and wanted to shew some acts of bounty and generosity, in order to gain the friendship of the Spaniards. But the untractableness, the avarice, and indiscretion of the parties concerned, broke through all his measures; and to prevent the entire ...
— History of Louisisana • Le Page Du Pratz

... that you are preparing a new edition, and propose to make some additions and alterations in order to obviate objections. I shall use the freedom to propose one; which, if it appears to be of any weight, you may have in your eye. I wish you had more particularly and fully proved that all kinds of sympathy are agreeable. This is the hinge of your system, and yet you only mention the matter ...
— Life of Adam Smith • John Rae

... quadruped called wash, and that he eats to repletion, takes no exercise, and finally sleeps all the twenty-four hours he is not eating, and then, when the animal at last seeks for those medicinal aids which would obviate the evil of such a forcing diet, his keeper, instead of meeting his animal instinct by human reason, and giving him what he seeks, has the inhumanity to torture him by a ring, that, keeping up a perpetual "raw" in the pig's snout, ...
— The Book of Household Management • Mrs. Isabella Beeton

... that morning, due to arrive at Sheffield at 8.45. From the very commencement of the journey he had been wilful and troublesome. He kept making excuses for leaving the carriage whenever the train stopped. To obviate this nuisance the two warders, in whose charge he was, had provided themselves with little bags which Peace could use when he wished and then throw out of the window. Just after the train passed Worksop, Peace asked for one of the bags. When the window was lowered ...
— A Book of Remarkable Criminals • H. B. Irving

... convinced that I have found a precise, practical solution of the arduous problem which I proposed to myself—that of a process of manufacture, independent of season and locality, which should obviate the necessity of having recourse to the costly methods of cooling employed in existing processes, and at the same time secure the preservation of its products for any length ...
— The Harvard Classics Volume 38 - Scientific Papers (Physiology, Medicine, Surgery, Geology) • Various

... gully to a little beach between two projecting beads which have rocky islets lying off them. The gully is on the west side of the northern entrance, and will easily be known, since we sent there on first coming to an anchor, in the expectation of finding water, but Mr. Westall's sketch will obviate any difficulty ...
— A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 2 • Matthew Flinders

... much as possible by the Valley City following close after, watching the banks of the river on either side. There were dykes on each side of the river, behind which in the undergrowth the rebels often lurked. To obviate this, Commander W. H. Macomb ordered the marines to march a short distance ahead of the dredge-boats on either side of the river; but notwithstanding this precaution, the men in the dredge-boats were fired into, and several were ...
— Reminiscences of Two Years in the United States Navy • John M. Batten

... is stated in a moment, but each of these variations in the material, as well as every article made from them, cost this indefatigable man days, weeks, months, or years of experiment. It cost him, for example, several years of most expensive trial to obviate the objection to India-rubber fabrics caused by the liability of the gum to peel from the cloth. He tried every known textile fabric, and every conceivable process before arriving at the simple expedient of mixing fibre ...
— Famous Americans of Recent Times • James Parton

... would obviate the practical difficulty apprehended in the administration of the cheap postage system, in those parts of the country where the use of copper coin is not common; as it will always be easy to purchase stamps with dimes. I do not believe any persons in this country would be so fastidious ...
— Cheap Postage • Joshua Leavitt

... towards them, I found that they again began to retreat, evidently determined not to let me approach any nearer, either armed or unarmed. Upon this I halted, and endeavoured to enter into parley with them, with a view to persuading them to return towards Fowler's Bay, and thus obviate the painful necessity I should have been under of endeavouring, for my own security, to take away the life of the eldest whenever I met with him, should they still persist in going the same road as myself. The distance we were ...
— Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central • Edward John Eyre

... frequently the case, when the animal is fed only upon oats and hay and straw; but even if the oats produce such an effect, the addition of a small proportion of beans—the binding properties of which are well known—will obviate the disadvantage. ...
— The Stock-Feeder's Manual - the chemistry of food in relation to the breeding and - feeding of live stock • Charles Alexander Cameron

... able to realise in fact. One fatal defect of the Greek civilisation, as is familiar to students of their history, was the failure of the various independent city states to coalesce into a single harmonious whole. But the tendency of religion was to obviate this defect. We find, for example, that at one time or another federations of states were formed to support in common the cult of some god; and one cult in particular there was—that of the Delphian Apollo—whose influence ...
— The Greek View of Life • Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson

... not think what had come to every one, and tried in vain to make them sociable. In the evening they had recourse to a game, said to be for Charlotte's amusement, but in reality to obviate some of the stiffness and constraint; yet even this led to awkward situations. Each person was to set down his or her favourite character in history and fiction, flower, virtue, and time at which to have lived, and these ...
— The Heir of Redclyffe • Charlotte M. Yonge

... built up of bricks with about one-eighth its height composed of mortar joints, that is, of a material that by its nature and manner of application must both shrink in drying and yield to pressure. To obviate this tendency to settle and thus cause the bulging of the face or failure of the wall, the mortar used should be composed of Portland cement and sand with a large proportion of the former, and worked ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 - "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" • Various

... Harrison. After reaching his home at Barrow, after his visit to London in 1728, he began his experiments for the construction of a marine chronometer. The task was one of no small difficulty. It was necessary to provide against irregularities arising from the motion of a ship at sea, and to obviate the effect of alternations of temperature in the machine itself, as well as the oil with which it was lubricated. A thousand obstacles presented themselves, but they were not enough to deter Harrison from grappling with the work he had set himself ...
— Men of Invention and Industry • Samuel Smiles

... a low bow, and said, "Only, Sir, a slight objection which this young lady makes to dancing with me, and which I am endeavouring to obviate. I shall think myself greatly honoured if you will intercede ...
— Evelina • Fanny Burney

... secret, from the fear that foreign powers might covet these treasures, probably, also, contributed to a refusal which has undoubtedly proved, for the present, a serious loss to science. All the arguments I could urge to obviate the President's objections were ineffectual: all I could obtain for our learned associates was permission to travel round the bay of Conception and the environs of Talcaguana, for which a passport was made out; and a subaltern officer was appointed to accompany them, ...
— A New Voyage Round the World in the Years 1823, 24, 25, and 26. Vol. 1 • Otto von Kotzebue

... am sorry to differ with you with regard to the title, [4] but I mean to retain it with this addition: The British [the word "British" is struck through] English Bards and Scotch Reviewers; and if we call it a Satire, it will obviate the objection, as the Bards also were Welch. Your title is too humorous;—and as I know a little of——, I wish not to embroil myself with him, though I do not commend his treatment of——. I shall be glad to hear from you or see you, and beg ...
— The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and Journals, Vol. 1 • Lord Byron, Edited by Rowland E. Prothero

... and unsatisfactory, and the suggestions submitted by the department will, it is believed, if adopted, obviate the difficulties alluded to, promote harmony, and increase the efficiency of ...
— The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Complete - Constitutional Edition • Abraham Lincoln

... parallel to the horizon, or what is commonly termed lying flat. One of the greatest inconveniences navigators have to struggle with is the frequent want of a distinct sight of the horizon. To obviate this a horizontal spinning speculum was adopted by Mr. Lerson, who was lost in the Victory man-of-war, in which ship he was sent out to make trial of his instrument. This was afterwards improved by Smeaton, ...
— The Sailor's Word-Book • William Henry Smyth

... leans to sending for the Duke of Wellington. Lord Melbourne advised that Her Majesty should make up her mind at once to send for Sir Robert. He told me that it would not be without precedent to send for both at once; this it appears to me would obviate every objection. The Queen, he thinks, has a perfect right to exercise her judgment upon the selection of all persons recommended to Her Majesty for Household appointments, both as to liking, but chiefly as to ...
— The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume 1 (of 3), 1837-1843) • Queen Victoria

... a classification in which the various groups should be so defined as to obviate the interference of personal equation in the work of applying it, hoping thus to achieve greater accuracy. In this we can lay claim to only partial success; for, in the first place, having satisfactorily defined a number of groups, we found it necessary in the end to provide a special ...
— A Study of Association in Insanity • Grace Helen Kent

... was slipping up on a Filipino town at night. It was purely a clandestine movement—orders were given in whispered tones by tiptoeing orderlies. The men were holding their bayonet scabbards against their legs to obviate screeching and rattling, and every effort was made to minimize the sounds of a marching ...
— Bamboo Tales • Ira L. Reeves

... part, especially with regard to the conception of time; to clear away the obscurity which has been found in the deduction of the conceptions of the understanding; to supply the supposed want of sufficient evidence in the demonstration of the principles of the pure understanding; and, lastly, to obviate the misunderstanding of the paralogisms which immediately precede the rational psychology. Beyond this point—the end of the second main division of the "Transcendental Dialectic"—I have not extended my alterations,* ...
— The Critique of Pure Reason • Immanuel Kant

... invariably deliberated and voted in separate chambers; and the princes and the chief nobles presented memorials to the king, in which they almost unanimously recommended an adherence to these ancient forms; while, with patriotic prudence, they sought to obviate all jealousy of their own pretensions or views which might be entertained or feigned in any quarter, by announcing their willingness to abandon all the exclusive privileges and exemptions which they had hitherto possessed, ...
— The Life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France • Charles Duke Yonge

... the Field, you have the Disadvantage of the Ground, the Wind, or the Sun, or that in a School, you are exposed to too much Light, or, pushing with an awkard Man; in order to obviate these Inconveniencies, you must go round him, which may be done within or without ...
— The Art of Fencing - The Use of the Small Sword • Monsieur L'Abbat

... enemy, or at least to extinguish his torch. Almost invariably these hypogees have two exits or entrances, so that those within could escape by one should the enemy force the other, or endeavour to smoke them out. Moreover, to keep up a circulation of air, and to obviate the contingency of being smoked out, these underground retreats are almost invariably supplied with ventilating shafts. The marks made by the implements employed in hewing the rock are always distinctly recognisable. Moreover within, sunk in the floor, are ...
— Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe • Sabine Baring-Gould

... the pots might vary also, and differences of temperature often have a considerable influence on the shade of the colour which is being dyed. This is a minor objection, which is more academic in its origin than of practical importance. To obviate it Mr. William Marshall, of the Rochdale Technical School, has devised a circular form of dye-bath, in which the temperature in every part can be kept ...
— The Dyeing of Woollen Fabrics • Franklin Beech

... Twickenham is properly described by Roscoe as lying on both sides of the highway, rendering it necessary for him to cross the road to arrive at the higher and more ornamental part of his gardens. In order to obviate this inconvenience, he had recourse to the expedient of excavating a passage under the road from one part of his grounds to the other, a fact to which he ...
— Seeing Europe with Famous Authors - Vol. II Great Britain And Ireland, Part Two • Francis W. Halsey

... arising from his connection with Pierce, Smooth found clinging to his garments. The world in general viewed him as a dangerous man, for the simple reason that his master was regarded with the same eye of suspicion. Pierce was not ignorant of this, and to obviate Smooth's difficulties, said he would send him Down East, as before related. Being of an undecided turn, he could not make up his mind about the war business in Europe, nor could he exactly define where he stood with regard to ...
— The Adventures of My Cousin Smooth • Timothy Templeton

... such a number of ships could not be manned, but if it is considered that there are now employed in privateering a greater number of men, than are sufficient to man this proposed fleet, it is easy to obviate this difficulty by offering such inducements, as will infallibly lead both officers and men to prefer the public to any private service whatever. The United States have not in view private or partial, ...
— The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. I • Various

... other motive-power now known to man. No force hitherto attained would suffice to lift the engine which generated it. He appeared to anticipate that flying will be a future mode of locomotion, but not till the moral condition of mankind is so improved as to obviate the bad uses to which the power might be applied. Another topic discussed was a cure for complaints of the chest by the inhalation of nitric acid; and he produced his own apparatus for that purpose, being merely a tube inserted into a bottle containing a small quantity of the acid, just ...
— Passages From the French and Italian Notebooks, Complete • Nathaniel Hawthorne

... affiliated, and interunion war results. The older unions, however, have a stabilizing influence upon the newer, and a genuine conservatism such as characterizes the British unions is becoming more apparent as age solidifies custom and lends respect to by-laws and constitutions. But even time cannot obviate the seismic effects of new inventions, and shifts in jurisdictional matters are always imminent. The dominant policy of the trade union is to keep its feet on the earth, no matter where its head may be; to take one step at a time, and not ...
— The Armies of Labor - Volume 40 in The Chronicles Of America Series • Samuel P. Orth

... others, depending on the character of the soil, and the quantity and nature of the manure used. A small piece of red pepper added to the water in which cauliflower or cabbage is boiled prevents to a large extent this unpleasant odor and improves their flavor. To obviate the "strong" flavor which these vegetables acquire when large quantities of stable manure are used the heads should be parboiled in the morning of the day on which they are wanted. They are then put on a hair sieve and placed in the larder. Twenty ...
— The Cauliflower • A. A. Crozier

... stood, near Tattershall bridge, a toll-bar with gate made formidable by a chevaux de frise of iron spikes. At times the play ran high, and our friend would return home without a coin in his pocket wherewith to pay toll. But he was well-mounted, and on a moonlight night he would not hesitate to obviate the difficulty by taking the toll-bar at full speed and landing safely on four legs beyond it. Although I cannot set my seal to this tradition, yet, from the style in which he would follow the hounds, I can well believe that not even a toll-bar, spikes ...
— Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood - Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter • J. Conway Walter

... make too conspicuous an appearance in the park, in my elegant cloak, trimmed with costly ermine and bonnet shaded with snowy plumes. I would be recognized at once, for the bride of the jealous Ernest was an object of interest and curiosity. To obviate this difficulty, I purchased a large gray shawl, of soft, yielding material, that completely covered my cloak; a thick, green veil, through which my features could not be discerned, and walked with rapid steps through the hurrying ...
— Ernest Linwood - or, The Inner Life of the Author • Caroline Lee Hentz

... France, taking with you Monge, Berthollet, Berthier, Lannes, and Murat. This news has spread like lightning through the city, and I should not be at all surprised if it produce an unfavourable effect, which, however, I hope you will obviate. ...
— Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, Complete • Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne

... smile, thinks that he can obviate this unpleasantness. He has come across a fluid among the chemicals labelled "Parfum du Paradis." The direction upon it is simply, "Pour it out into a saucer, and everyone will be delighted at the refreshing and delicious odour which will instantaneously ...
— Happy-Thought Hall • F. C. Burnand

... is never experienced. It is true that these inconveniences occur in a much greater degree in the spring; but being then hailed as the harbingers of the return of permanent warmth, it is easy to obviate some, and would be hard to complain of ...
— Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the • Sir William Edward Parry

... it threw open its columns to the claims of America's champion labor-baiter, the late C.W. Post, that his "Grapenuts" would prevent appendicitis, and obviate the need of operations ...
— The Profits of Religion, Fifth Edition • Upton Sinclair

... to this it seems necessary—That they should experience the benefits of an impartial dispensation of justice. That the mode of alienating their lands, the main source of discontent and war, should be so defined and regulated as to obviate imposition and as far as may be practicable controversy concerning the reality and extent of the alienations which are made. That commerce with them should be promoted under regulations tending to secure an equitable deportment toward them, and that such rational experiments should be made for ...
— Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present • Various

... carnage, but she found that all was flooded, and her countenance softened; when she had drunken, it was her heart that softened; she went away drunk, without further thought of men." There was some fear lest her fury might return when the fumes of drunkenness were past, and to obviate this danger Ra instituted a rite, partly with the object of instructing future generations as to the chastisement which he had inflicted upon the impious, partly to console Sokhit for her discomfiture. He decreed that "on New Year's Day there should be brewed for her as ...
— History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 1 (of 12) • G. Maspero

... predetermined low water level the pump will stop; but it is impracticable to control the engine in the same way, so that although the floats are a useful accessory to the plant during the temporary absence of the man in charge they will not obviate his more or less constant attendance. An electric motor may be controlled by a float, but in many cases trouble is experienced with the switch gear, probably caused by its exposure to the damp air. In all cases an alarm float should be fixed, which would rise as the depth ...
— The Sewerage of Sea Coast Towns • Henry C. Adams

... churches and a meeting of the general court were held to devise defense. To obviate a repeal of their laws, these were in a measure remodeled so as to bring them nearer to what it was supposed the king would require. Almost anything would be preferable to giving up the right to legislate for themselves. It was first affirmed that English laws did ...
— The History of the United States from 1492 to 1910, Volume 1 • Julian Hawthorne

... overseer nor the slaves had the least knowledge of clearing land, and that was the first thing to be done. It was useless to consult the Captain, for he knew still less about matters of that kind. To obviate this difficulty, our master bought out a Mr. Cummings, who had some cleared land on the west side of the bay. On this he put the overseer and a part of the slaves, and then hired a Mr. Herrington to take charge of the remainder. Herrington ...
— Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman • Austin Steward

... for every leader of a protracted expedition, How can I obviate this paralyzing influence? And one after another had ...
— Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World • James Cook

... my intention to have also negotiated with the plenipotentiary of San Domingo amendments to the treaty of annexation to obviate objections which may be urged against the treaty as it is now worded; but on reflection I deem it better to submit to the Senate the propriety of their amending the treaty as follows: First, to specify that the obligations of this Government ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Ulysses S. Grant • James D. Richardson

... every necessary of life, as well as the buildings more intimately connected with the religious and social life of its inmates. It should comprise a mill, a bakehouse, stables and cow-houses, together with accommodation for carrying on all necessary mechanical arts within the walls, so as to obviate the necessity of the monks going outside its ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... to be thus, thought I, it is much better that this opportunity should occur of my getting away at once, and thus obviate all the unpleasantness of my future meeting with Lady Jane; and the thousand conjectures that my departure, so sudden and unannounced might give rise to. So be it, and I have now only one hope more—that the terms we ...
— The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer, Complete • Charles James Lever (1806-1872)

... especially to the reader, as distinguished from the spectator assisting at a theatrical performance, there must always be a sense of the effort necessary to keep the various parts from flying asunder, a sense of imperfect continuity, such as the older criticism vainly sought to obviate by the rule of the dramatic "unities." It follows that a play attains artistic perfection just in proportion as it approaches that unity of lyrical effect, as if a song or ballad were still lying at the root of it, all the various expression of the conflict of character and ...
— Appreciations, with an Essay on Style • Walter Horatio Pater

... that they should be discovered during the few hours they must remain there; but even if they were, their presence in that retired spot, whatever surprise it might awaken, could afford, owing to the absence of the saddles and trappings, no clue to their owners. To obviate any risk of their hoof-prints being traced, Paco had had the forethought to take them into the stream, and lead them for some distance ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 367, May 1846 • Various

... incline out of the water, and monster, double-headed locomotives hitched to it, by gentle grades it and the ship were to be drawn across to the other ocean a hundred miles away, where the ship could be floated again. To obviate any chance of straining the ships, all curves were to be avoided by ...
— James B. Eads • Louis How

... of this more German system, into which English education is drifting, will obviate the difficulty so much complained of in the English university system, that of forcing all students, irrespective of the varying mental and physical powers, through a definite course of study in a definite period ...
— The Education of American Girls • Anna Callender Brackett

... Marylebone against a mysterious foreigner charged with using a forged identity book, the police said they did not know the real name and address of the man. The Bench decided to obviate the difficulty in the ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 156, Jan. 29, 1919 • Various

... was much more displeased with his aunt than with his mother, as evincing least regard for her niece, he could not help paying more attention to what she said; and at length determined on a method of proceeding which would obviate the risk of his father's thinking he had done too much, and at the same time procure for Fanny the immediate means of exercise, which he could not bear she should be without. He had three horses of his own, but not one that would carry a woman. Two of ...
— Persuasion • Jane Austen

... In order to obviate the disadvantages that are likely to arise from having a poor accompanist, the conductor must exercise the greatest care in choosing his coworker. Unless he knows of some one concerning whose ability there is no question, the best plan is probably to have several ...
— Essentials in Conducting • Karl Wilson Gehrkens

... to obviate the discomfort of the soldiers, who are quartered some in one place, some in another, among the inhabitants; and to prevent the quarrels into which they get with the people, I have built for them barracks of stone and brick which are now finished, and which will accommodate ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume VIII (of 55), 1591-1593 • Emma Helen Blair

... by another, dated on the following day, in which the pope, in order to obviate any misunderstanding with the Portuguese, and acting no doubt on the suggestion of the Spanish sovereigns, defined with greater precision the intention of his original grant to the latter, by bestowing on them all such ...
— The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella The Catholic, V2 • William H. Prescott



Words linked to "Obviate" :   necessitate, rule out, prevent, forbid, avoid, fend off, close out, preclude, debar, forfend, ward off, head off, deflect, rid of, obviation, forefend



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