fire vs remove

fire

verb
  • To terminate the employment contract of (an employee), especially for cause (such as misconduct or poor performance). 

  • To shoot a gun, cannon, or similar weapon. 

  • To initiate an event (by means of an event handler). 

  • To forcibly direct (something). 

  • To shoot (a gun, rocket/missile, or analogous device). 

  • To drive away by setting a fire. 

  • To animate; to give life or spirit to. 

  • To shoot; to attempt to score a goal. 

  • To set (something, often a building) on fire. 

  • To set off an explosive in a mine. 

  • To light up as if by fire; to illuminate. 

  • To feed or serve the fire of. 

  • To operate a rocket engine to produce thrust. 

  • To terminate a contract with a client; to drop a client. 

  • To inflame; to irritate, as the passions. 

  • To heat as with fire, but without setting on fire, as ceramic, metal objects, etc. 

  • To cause an action potential in a cell. 

  • To cauterize. 

adj
  • Amazing; excellent. 

noun
  • A heater or stove used in place of a real fire (such as an electric fire). 

  • The bullets or other projectiles fired from a gun or other ranged weapon. 

  • Splendour; brilliancy; lustre; hence, a star. 

  • The elements necessary to start a fire. 

  • Strength of passion, whether love or hate. 

  • Red coloration in a piece of opal. 

  • The occurrence, often accidental, of fire in a certain place, causing damage and danger. 

  • A (usually self-sustaining) chemical reaction involving the bonding of oxygen with carbon or other fuel, with the production of heat and the presence of flame or smouldering. 

  • Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral enthusiasm. 

  • An instance of this chemical reaction, especially when intentionally created and maintained in a specific location to a useful end (such as a campfire or a hearth fire). 

  • A planned bombardment by artillery or similar weapons, or the capability to deliver such. 

  • A severe trial; anything inflaming or provoking. 

  • An instance of firing one or more rocket engines. 

  • The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy. 

remove

verb
  • To dismiss or discharge from office. 

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

  • To murder. 

  • 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 fire and remove occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )