blockade vs lay siege to

blockade

noun
  • The ships or other forces used to effect a naval blockade. 

  • Inhibition of the activity (function) of chemical messengers or their receptors, such as (often) receptor antagonism. 

  • The physical blocking or surrounding of a place, especially a port, in order to prevent commerce and traffic in or out. 

  • Any form of formal isolation or inhibition of something, especially with the force of law or arms. 

  • Preventing an opponent's pawn moving by placing a piece in front of it. 

verb
  • To create a blockade against. 

lay siege to

How often have the words blockade and lay siege to occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )