hitch vs sever

hitch

verb
  • To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling. 

  • To strike the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere. 

  • To attach, tie or fasten. 

  • To pull with a jerk. 

  • To marry oneself to; especially to get hitched. 

  • To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded. 

noun
  • A fastener or connection point, as for a trailer. 

  • A large Californian minnow, Lavinia exilicauda. 

  • A problem, delay or source of difficulty. 

  • A sudden pull. 

  • A period of time spent in the military. 

  • Any of various knots used to attach a rope to an object other than another rope. 

  • A hidden or unfavorable condition or element. 

sever

verb
  • To suffer disjunction; to be parted or separated. 

  • To disconnect; to disunite; to terminate. 

  • To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish. 

  • To cut free. 

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