crosscut vs shorten

crosscut

verb
  • To cut across something. 

  • To cut (wood, lumber) across the grain. 

  • To cut repeatedly between two concurrent scenes. 

noun
  • A crosswise cut. 

  • A shortcut. 

  • A crosscut saw. 

  • A level driven across the course of a vein, or across the main workings, as from one gangway to another. 

  • An instance of filmic crosscutting. 

shorten

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

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

  • To reduce (sail) by taking it in. 

  • To become shorter. 

  • To make shorter; to abbreviate. 

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

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

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