airlock vs gap

airlock

noun
  • A vestibule, foyer or entranceway with doors to the exterior on one end and doors to the interior on the other, functioning to keep indoor and outdoor air, humidity, and air temperatures separate. 

  • A sealed, airtight chamber, such as in a manned spacecraft or submarine, used to provide access to and from the sealed area without allowing air out or water in. 

gap

noun
  • An opening allowing passage or entrance. 

  • A vacancy, deficit, absence, or lack. 

  • The shortfall between the amount the medical insurer will pay to the service provider and the scheduled fee for the item. 

  • An opening in anything made by breaking or parting. 

  • A hiatus, a pause in something which is otherwise continuous. 

  • An opening that implies a breach or defect. 

  • (usually written as "the gap") The disparity between the indigenous and non-indigenous communities with regard to life expectancy, education, health, etc. 

  • An unsequenced region in a sequence alignment. 

  • The regions between the outfielders. 

  • A vacant space or time. 

  • A mountain or hill pass. 

  • A sheltered area of coast between two cliffs (mostly restricted to place names). 

verb
  • To leave suddenly. 

  • To notch, as a sword or knife. 

  • To check the size of a gap. 

  • To make an opening in; to breach. 

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