ford vs shorten

ford

verb
  • To cross a stream using a ford. 

noun
  • A location where a stream is shallow and the bottom has good footing, making it possible to cross from one side to the other with no bridge, by walking, riding, or driving through the water; a crossing. 

  • A stream; a current. 

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 ford and shorten occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )