approach vs distance

approach

verb
  • To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh. 

  • To play an approach shot. 

  • Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal. 

  • To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near. 

  • Of an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place). 

  • To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works. 

  • To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem). 

  • To bring up or propose to (someone) an idea, question, request, etc. 

  • To move toward (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to. 

noun
  • An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access. 

  • The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport. 

  • An act of coming near in character or value; an approximation. 

  • The area before the lane in which a bowler may stand or run up before bowling the ball. 

  • A manner of making (a policy) or solving (a problem, etc.). 

  • A path taken to reach the climbing area, for example, from a car park, road, etc. 

  • An act of drawing near in place or time; an advancing or coming near. 

  • A specific procedure used for approaching and landing at an airport. 

distance

verb
  • To leave at a distance; to outpace, leave behind. 

  • To lose interest in a specific issue. 

  • To move away (from) someone or something. 

noun
  • Remoteness of place; a remote place. 

  • The space measured back from the winning-post which a racehorse running in a heat must reach when the winner has covered the whole course, in order to run in the final heat. 

  • A withholding of intimacy; alienation; variance. 

  • Length or interval of time. 

  • The remoteness or reserve which respect requires; hence, respect; ceremoniousness. 

  • A space marked out in the last part of a racecourse. 

  • The amount of space between two points, usually geographical points, usually (but not necessarily) measured along a straight line. 

  • The entire amount of progress to an objective. 

  • Remoteness in succession or relation. 

  • The difference; the subjective measure between two quantities. 

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