canoe vs skiff

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. 

skiff

noun
  • Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person. 

  • A light, fleeting shower of rain or snow, or gust of wind, etc. 

  • A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern. 

  • A (typically light) dusting of snow or ice (or dust, etc) (on ground, water, trees, etc). 

  • An act of slightly pruning tea bushes, placing new leaves at a convenient height without removing much woody growth. 

verb
  • To fall lightly or briefly, and lightly cover the ground (etc). 

  • To navigate in a skiff. 

  • To cut (a tea bush) to maintain the plucking table. 

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