breathe vs throttle

breathe

verb
  • To exhale or expel (something) in the manner of breath. 

  • To inspire (scripture). 

  • To take in needed gases and expel waste gases in a similar way. 

  • To live. 

  • To exercise; to tire by brisk exercise. 

  • To inhale (a gas) to sustain life. 

  • To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. 

  • To passionately devote much of one's life to (an activity, etc.). 

  • To whisper quietly. 

  • To give an impression of, to exude. 

  • To expel air from the lungs, exhale. 

  • To pass like breath; noiselessly or gently; to emanate; to blow gently. 

  • To draw something into the lungs. 

  • To exchange gases with the environment. 

  • To stop, to give (a horse) an opportunity to catch its breath. 

throttle

verb
  • To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated. 

  • To utter with breaks and interruption, in the manner of a person half suffocated. 

  • To have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation; to choke; to suffocate. 

  • To control or adjust the speed of (an engine). 

  • To cut back on the speed of (an engine, person, organization, network connection, etc.). 

  • To strangle or choke someone. 

noun
  • A valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine. 

  • The lever or pedal that controls this valve. 

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