compress vs shorten

compress

verb
  • To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume. 

  • To abridge. 

  • To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits. 

  • To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format. 

  • To condense into a more economic, easier format. 

noun
  • A multiply folded piece of cloth, a pouch of ice etc., used to apply to a patient's skin, cover the dressing of wounds, and placed with the aid of a bandage to apply pressure on an injury. 

  • A machine for compressing. 

shorten

verb
  • To make shorter; to abbreviate. 

  • To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen. 

  • To take in the slack of (a rope). 

  • To reduce (sail) by taking it in. 

  • To become shorter. 

  • To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, etc. 

  • To make deficient (as to); to deprive (of). 

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