chant vs shorten

chant

noun
  • Twang; manner of speaking; a canting tone. 

  • Type of singing done generally without instruments and harmony. 

  • A short and simple melody, divided into two parts by double bars, to which unmetrical psalms, etc., are sung or recited. It is the most ancient form of choral music. 

  • A repetitive song, typically an incantation or part of a ritual. 

verb
  • To utter or repeat in a strongly rhythmical manner, especially as a group. 

  • To sing or intone sacred text. 

  • To sing, especially without instruments, and as applied to monophonic and pre-modern music. 

shorten

verb
  • To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen. 

  • To take in the slack of (a rope). 

  • To reduce (sail) by taking it in. 

  • To become shorter. 

  • To make shorter; to abbreviate. 

  • To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, etc. 

  • To make deficient (as to); to deprive (of). 

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