A more thorough explanation:

Definition: To dispose of or do away with something; to anticipate and prevent it from arising. It can also mean to make something unnecessary.

Example 1: The company installed a new security system to obviate the need for hiring additional security personnel.

Example 2: The vaccine obviated the need for hospitalization in many cases of the flu.

These examples illustrate how obviate can be used to prevent or eliminate the need for something. In the first example, the security system was installed to prevent the need for hiring more security personnel. In the second example, the vaccine made hospitalization unnecessary in many cases of the flu.