blackmail vs swindle

blackmail

noun
  • The extortion of money or favours by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure. 

  • Black rent, or rent paid in corn, meat, or the lowest coin, as opposed to white rent, which was paid in silver. 

  • Compromising material that can be used to extort someone, dirt. 

verb
  • To extort money or favors from (a person) by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, such as injury to reputation, distress of mind, false accusation, etc. 

  • To speak ill of someone; to defame someone. 

swindle

noun
  • An instance of swindling. 

  • when a player in a losing position plays a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw 

  • Anything that is deceptively not what it appears to be. 

verb
  • for a player in a losing position to play a clever move that provokes an error from the opponent, thus achieving a win or a draw 

  • To defraud. 

  • To obtain (money or property) by fraudulent or deceitful methods. 

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