assault vs meatgrinder

assault

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

  • A non-competitive combat between two fencers. 

  • 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. 

verb
  • To threaten or harass. 

  • To attack, physically or figuratively; to assail. 

meatgrinder

noun
  • An activity with a high casualty or attrition rate, such as a military battle or an occupational or athletic activity. 

  • A device for cutting meat into very small pieces. 

  • The mountainous second day of the race was a real meatgrinder, with 20% of racers dropping out. 

  • A process that is likely to be injurious in a non-physical way. 

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