canoe vs kayak

canoe

noun
  • A small long and narrow boat, propelled by one or more people (depending on the size of canoe), using single-bladed paddles. The paddlers face in the direction of travel, in either a seated position, or kneeling on the bottom of the boat. Canoes are open on top, and pointed at both ends. 

  • An oversize, usually older, luxury car. 

  • Any of the deflectors positioned around a roulette wheel, shaped like upside-down boats. 

verb
  • To ride or paddle a canoe. 

kayak

noun
  • A type of small boat, covered over by a surface deck, powered by the occupant or occupants using a double-bladed paddle in a sitting position, from a hole in the surface deck 

verb
  • To use a kayak, to travel or race in a kayak. 

  • To traverse (a body of water) by kayak. 

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