abandon vs back out

abandon

verb
  • To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue. 

  • To no longer exercise a right, title, or interest, especially with no interest of reclaiming it again; to yield; to relinquish. 

  • To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions. 

  • To leave behind; to desert, as in a ship, a position, or a person, typically in response to overwhelming odds or impending dangers; to forsake, in spite of a duty or responsibility. 

  • To surrender to the insurer (an insured item), so as to claim a total loss. 

noun
  • A yielding to natural impulses or inhibitions; freedom from artificial constraint, with loss of appreciation of consequences. 

back out

verb
  • To withdraw from something one has agreed to do. 

  • To exit a mode or function. 

  • To draw from behind the back [+accusative = a knife etc.] (as also bare back). 

  • To undo (a change). 

  • Coordinate terms: cancel, call off, get cold feet 

  • To reverse (a vehicle) from a confined space. 

  • See also: sell short 

  • To dare (someone) to not withdraw from a challenge. 

  • To bet on someone losing. 

  • Coordinate term: scare off 

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