fail vs finish

fail

verb
  • To be unsuccessful. 

  • Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.) 

  • To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent. 

  • To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits. 

  • To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour. 

  • To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert; to disappoint one's expectations. 

  • To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence. 

  • To neglect. 

  • Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly. 

noun
  • A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action). 

  • A failure (condition of being unsuccessful). 

  • A failing grade in an academic examination. 

  • Poor quality; substandard workmanship. 

  • A failure (something incapable of success). 

  • A piece of turf cut from grassland. 

adj
  • Unsuccessful; inadequate; unacceptable in some way. 

finish

verb
  • To come to an end. 

  • To reach orgasm. 

  • To complete (something). 

  • To change an animal's food supply in the months before it is due for slaughter, with the intention of fattening the animal. 

  • To apply a treatment to (a surface or similar). 

  • To put an end to; to destroy. 

noun
  • The result of any process changing the physical or chemical properties of cloth. 

  • A shot on goal, especially one that ends in a goal. 

  • A protective coating given to wood or metal and other surfaces. 

  • A finishing touch; careful elaboration; polish. 

  • An end; the end of anything. 

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