lay-by vs pull-off

lay-by

noun
  • A paved area at the side of a highway designated for drivers to stop in, for emergency parking, or where vehicles can wait, with larger lay-bys possibly having facilities like food vendors or public telephones. 

  • A railroad siding; a second, short railroad track just to the side of a railroad track, connected with the main track by a switch and used for unloading, bypassing, etc. 

  • A method of retail purchase in which the selected goods are set aside and the customer pays for them in instalments, receiving them when fully paid; layaway. 

  • A widened section of a narrow river or canal, formed to one side so as to leave the channel free, for mooring of vessels, where vessels can lay over or allow others to pass. 

pull-off

noun
  • An area by the side of a road where vehicles may stop; a lay-by. 

  • The technique, when playing a string instrument, of using a finger of the fret hand to pluck a string by pulling the finger off the fretboard. 

adj
  • Able to be removed by pulling. 

How often have the words lay-by and pull-off occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )