metro vs subway

metro

noun
  • A rapid transit rail transport system, or a train in such systems, generally underground and serving a metropolitan area. 

  • An urban rapid transit rail transport system, normally with lighter track and light trains (i.e. an S-Bahn or similar), or a train in such systems. 

  • A metropolitan area. 

adj
  • metropolitan 

subway

noun
  • An underground railway, especially for mass transit of people in urban areas. 

  • An underground route for pipes, sewers, etc. 

  • A rapid transit system, regardless of the elevation of its right of way; a metro system. 

  • A train that runs on such an underground railway. 

  • An underground walkway, tunnel for pedestrians (called pedestrian underpass in US). 

verb
  • To travel by underground railway. 

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