axe vs give up

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. 

give up

verb
  • To stop or quit (an activity, etc.) 

  • To admit defeat, capitulate 

  • Become fully taken over by a certain quality, activity, trait, &c. 

  • To abandon (someone or something) 

  • To relinquish (something) 

  • To execute a trade on behalf of another broker. 

  • To surrender (someone or something) 

  • To lose hope concerning (someone or something) 

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