axe vs continue

axe

verb
  • To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel. 

  • To furnish with an axle. 

  • To fell or chop with an axe. 

noun
  • A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives. 

  • An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle. 

  • A dismissal or rejection. 

  • A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc. consisting of a heavy head flattened to a blade on one side, and a handle attached to it. 

  • A drastic reduction or cutback. 

  • A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz. 

continue

verb
  • To adjourn, prorogue, put off. 

  • To make a continuation bet. 

  • To retain (someone or something) in a given state, position, etc. 

  • To proceed with (doing an activity); to prolong (an activity). 

  • To remain in a given place or condition; to remain in connection with; to abide; to stay. 

  • To make last; to prolong. 

  • To resume. 

noun
  • An option allowing the player to resume play after game over, when all lives have been lost, while retaining their progress. 

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