accelerator vs throttle

accelerator

noun
  • A pedal causing the vehicle to accelerate when it is pressed. 

  • A computer component using dedicated hardware to accelerate the processing and display of graphics. 

  • A muscle or nerve that speeds the performance of an action. 

  • An accelerator key. 

  • A device for causing acceleration. 

  • A device that accelerates charged subatomic particles; a particle accelerator. 

  • A light van to take mails between a post office and a railway station. 

  • One who, or that which, accelerates. 

  • A substance which speeds up chemical reactions. 

  • A chemical that reduces development time. 

throttle

noun
  • The lever or pedal that controls this valve. 

  • A valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine. 

verb
  • To utter with breaks and interruption, in the manner of a person half suffocated. 

  • To have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation; to choke; to suffocate. 

  • To control or adjust the speed of (an engine). 

  • To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated. 

  • To cut back on the speed of (an engine, person, organization, network connection, etc.). 

  • To strangle or choke someone. 

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