canal vs cove

canal

verb
  • To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage 

  • To travel along a canal by boat 

noun
  • A tubular channel within the body. 

  • An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation. 

  • One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars. 

cove

verb
  • To arch over; to build in a hollow concave form; to make in the form of a cove. 

  • To brood, cover, or sit over, as birds their eggs. 

noun
  • A concave vault or archway, especially the arch of a ceiling. 

  • A thin line, sometimes gilded, along a yacht's strake below deck level. 

  • A recess or sheltered area on the slopes of a mountain. 

  • A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern. 

  • The wooden roof of the stern gallery of an old sailing warship. 

  • A strip of prairie extending into woodland. 

  • A small coastal inlet, especially one having high cliffs protecting vessels from prevailing winds. 

  • A friend; a mate. 

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