efface vs remove

efface

verb
  • To erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible. 

  • Of the cervix during pregnancy, to thin and stretch in preparation for labor. 

  • To make oneself inobtrusive as if due to modesty or diffidence. 

  • To cause to disappear as if by rubbing out or striking out. 

remove

verb
  • To discard, set aside, especially something abstract (a thought, feeling, etc.). 

  • To murder. 

  • To dismiss or discharge from office. 

  • To move something or someone from one place to another, especially to take away. 

  • To dismiss a batsman. 

  • To delete. 

noun
  • Distance in time or space; interval. 

  • A step or gradation (as in the phrase "at one remove") 

  • (at some public schools) A division of the school, especially the form prior to last 

  • Emotional distance or indifference. 

  • The act of resetting a horse's shoe. 

  • The act of removing something. 

  • A dish served to replace an earlier one during a meal; a part of a new course. 

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