asphalt vs tar

asphalt

noun
  • A sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid, composed almost entirely of bitumen, that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits. 

verb
  • To pave with asphalt. 

tar

noun
  • A black, oily, sticky, viscous substance, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons derived from organic materials such as wood, peat, or coal. 

  • A file produced by such a program. 

  • A Persian long-necked, waisted string instrument, shared by many cultures and countries in the Middle East and the Caucasus. 

  • A solid residual byproduct of tobacco smoke. 

  • A single-headed round frame drum originating in North Africa and the Middle East. 

  • Black tar, a form of heroin. 

  • Coal tar. 

  • A program for archiving files, common on Unix systems. 

verb
  • To besmirch. 

  • To create a tar archive. 

  • To coat with tar. 

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