lease vs retain

lease

verb
  • To hold a lease as a tenant. 

  • To tell lies; tell lies about; slander; calumniate. 

  • To glean. 

  • To glean, gather up leavings. 

  • To release; let go; unloose. 

  • To grant a lease as a landlord; to let. 

  • To gather. 

  • To pick, select, pick out; to pick up. 

noun
  • An interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold. 

  • An interest granting exclusive use of any thing, such as a car or boat. 

  • The period of such an interest. 

  • The document containing such a contract or deed. 

  • An open pasture or common. 

  • The contract or deed under which such an interest is granted. 

  • The place at which the warp-threads cross on a loom. 

retain

verb
  • To keep in possession or use. 

  • To employ by paying a retainer. 

  • To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them to advance to the next class or year. 

  • To keep in one's pay or service. 

  • To hold secure. 

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