activate vs lift

activate

verb
  • To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate. 

  • To organize or create a military unit or station. 

  • To bring a player back after an injury. 

  • To put a device, mechanism (alarm etc.) or system into action or motion; to trigger, to actuate, to set off, to enable. 

  • To render a substance radioactive. 

  • To hasten a chemical reaction, especially by heating. 

  • To render more reactive; excite. 

  • To remove the limitations of demoware by providing a license; to unlock. 

  • To render a molecule reactive, active, or effective in performing its function. 

  • To aerate in order to aid decomposition of organic matter. 

lift

verb
  • To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing. 

  • To buy a security or other asset previously offered for sale. 

  • To take (hounds) off the existing scent and move them to another spot. 

  • To arrest (a person). 

  • To steal. 

  • to cause to move upwards. 

  • To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.; often with up. 

  • To lift weights; to weight-lift. 

  • To remove (a ban, restriction, etc.). 

  • To collect, as moneys due; to raise. 

  • To alleviate, to lighten (pressure, tension, stress, etc.) 

  • To source directly without acknowledgement; to plagiarise. 

  • To raise or rise. 

  • To transform (a function) into a corresponding function in a different context. 

noun
  • A rise; a degree of elevation. 

  • A thief. 

  • The amount or weight to be lifted. 

  • The sky; the heavens; firmament; atmosphere. 

  • An act of lifting or raising. 

  • One of the steps of a cone pulley. 

  • Air. 

  • Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building. 

  • That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given. 

  • An upward force, such as the force that keeps aircraft aloft. 

  • An improvement in mood. 

  • The difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway, separated by lock. 

  • The act of transporting someone in a vehicle; a ride; a trip. 

  • Permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically. 

  • A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below, and used for raising or supporting the end of the yard. 

  • A layer of leather in the heel of a shoe. 

  • The space or distance through which anything is lifted. 

  • The lifting of a dance partner into the air. 

  • A liftgate. 

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