fire vs terminate

fire

verb
  • To terminate the employment contract of (an employee), especially for cause (such as misconduct or poor performance). 

  • To shoot a gun, cannon, or similar weapon. 

  • To initiate an event (by means of an event handler). 

  • To forcibly direct (something). 

  • To shoot (a gun, rocket/missile, or analogous device). 

  • To drive away by setting a fire. 

  • To animate; to give life or spirit to. 

  • To shoot; to attempt to score a goal. 

  • To set (something, often a building) on fire. 

  • To set off an explosive in a mine. 

  • To light up as if by fire; to illuminate. 

  • To feed or serve the fire of. 

  • To operate a rocket engine to produce thrust. 

  • To terminate a contract with a client; to drop a client. 

  • To inflame; to irritate, as the passions. 

  • To heat as with fire, but without setting on fire, as ceramic, metal objects, etc. 

  • To cause an action potential in a cell. 

  • To cauterize. 

noun
  • A heater or stove used in place of a real fire (such as an electric fire). 

  • The bullets or other projectiles fired from a gun or other ranged weapon. 

  • Splendour; brilliancy; lustre; hence, a star. 

  • The elements necessary to start a fire. 

  • Strength of passion, whether love or hate. 

  • Red coloration in a piece of opal. 

  • The occurrence, often accidental, of fire in a certain place, causing damage and danger. 

  • A (usually self-sustaining) chemical reaction involving the bonding of oxygen with carbon or other fuel, with the production of heat and the presence of flame or smouldering. 

  • Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral enthusiasm. 

  • An instance of this chemical reaction, especially when intentionally created and maintained in a specific location to a useful end (such as a campfire or a hearth fire). 

  • A planned bombardment by artillery or similar weapons, or the capability to deliver such. 

  • A severe trial; anything inflaming or provoking. 

  • An instance of firing one or more rocket engines. 

  • The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy. 

adj
  • Amazing; excellent. 

terminate

verb
  • To end the employment contract of an employee; to fire, lay off. 

  • Of a mode of transport, to end its journey; or, of a railway line, to reach its terminus. 

  • To conclude. 

  • To end, conclude, or cease; to come to an end. 

  • To set or be a limit or boundary to. 

  • To kill someone or something. 

  • To issue or result. 

  • To end something, especially when left in an incomplete state. 

adj
  • Having a definite and clear limit or boundary; having a determinate size, shape or magnitude. 

  • Terminated; limited; bounded; ended. 

  • Expressible in a finite number of terms; (of a decimal) not recurring or infinite. 

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