shorten vs utter

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). 

utter

verb
  • To put (currency) into circulation. 

  • To produce (speech or other sounds) with one's voice. 

  • To commit the crime of uttering (knowingly presenting forged documentation). 

  • To produce (a noise) (of an inanimate object). 

  • To reveal or express (an idea, thought, desire, etc.) with speech. 

adj
  • Absolute, unconditional, total, complete. 

  • Outer; furthest out, most remote. 

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