close vs release

close

verb
  • To turn off; to switch off. 

  • To move to a position allowing electricity to flow. 

  • To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon. 

  • To move to a position preventing fluid from flowing. 

  • To cancel or reverse (a trading position). 

  • To make (e.g. a gap) smaller. 

  • To make a sale. 

  • To move so that an opening is closed. 

  • To grapple; to engage in close combat. 

  • To make the final outs, usually three, of a game. 

  • To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc. 

  • To come or gather around; to enclose; to encompass; to confine. 

  • To come to an end. 

  • To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate. 

  • To obstruct (an opening). 

  • To do the tasks (putting things away, locking doors, etc.) required to prepare a store or other establishment to shut down for the night. 

adj
  • Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact. 

  • Marked, evident. 

  • Intimate; well-loved. 

  • Strictly confined; carefully guarded. 

  • Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict. 

  • Almost, but not quite (getting to an answer or goal); near 

  • Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude. 

  • At a little distance; near. 

  • Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held. 

  • Hot, humid, with no wind. 

  • Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate. 

  • Narrow; confined. 

  • Short. 

  • Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced. 

noun
  • The common staircase in a tenement. 

  • A cathedral close. 

  • The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed 

  • The point at the end of a sales pitch when the consumer is asked to buy. 

  • The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence. 

  • A very narrow alley between two buildings, often overhung by one of the buildings above the ground floor. 

  • An end or conclusion. 

  • A grapple in wrestling. 

  • The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction. 

  • The time when checkin staff will no longer accept passengers for a flight. 

  • A double bar marking the end. 

  • A street that ends in a dead end. 

release

verb
  • To let go (of); to cease to hold or contain. 

  • To set free a chemical substance. 

  • To make available to the public. 

  • To loosen; to relax; to remove the obligation of. 

  • To set up; to provide with a goal-scoring opportunity 

  • To free or liberate; to set free. 

  • (of a call) To hang up. 

  • To let go, as a legal claim; to discharge or relinquish a right to, as lands or tenements, by conveying to another who has some right or estate in possession, as when the person in remainder releases his right to the tenant in possession; to quit. 

  • to come out; be out. 

  • To discharge. 

  • To lease again; to grant a new lease of; to let back. 

noun
  • The act or manner of ending a sound. 

  • In the block system, a printed card conveying information and instructions to be used at intermediate sidings without telegraphic stations. 

  • The giving up of a claim, especially a debt. 

  • Anything recently released or made available (as for sale). 

  • A catch on a motor-starting rheostat, which automatically releases the rheostat arm and so stops the motor in case of a break in the field circuit. 

  • The catch on an electromagnetic circuit breaker for a motor, triggered in the event of an overload. 

  • The lever or button on a camera that opens the shutter to allow a photograph to be taken 

  • Orgasm. 

  • A kind of bridge used in jazz music. 

  • The distribution of an initial or new and upgraded version of a computer software product; the distribution can be either public or private. 

  • The process by which a chemical substance is set free. 

  • The event of setting (someone or something) free (e.g. hostages, slaves, prisoners, caged animals, hooked or stuck mechanisms). 

  • That which is released, untied or let go. 

  • Liberation from pain or suffering. 

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