abuse vs assault

abuse

verb
  • To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage. 

  • To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly. 

  • To imbibe a drug for a purpose other than it was intended; to intentionally take more of a drug than was prescribed for recreational reasons; to take illegal drugs habitually. 

  • To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to misuse; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert 

noun
  • Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom. 

  • Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment. 

  • Misuse; improper use; perversion. 

  • Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies. 

  • Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis. 

assault

verb
  • To attack, physically or figuratively; to assail. 

  • To threaten or harass. 

noun
  • A non-competitive combat between two fencers. 

  • A violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc. 

  • A violent verbal attack, for example with insults, criticism, and the like 

  • An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm (such as brandishing a weapon). 

  • An attempt to commit battery: a violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence, to do hurt to another, but without necessarily touching the person, such as by raising a fist in a threatening manner, or by striking at the person and missing. 

  • The tort whose action is such an act. 

  • The crime whose action is such an attempt. 

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