background vs spotlight

background

noun
  • A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context. 

  • One's social heritage, or previous life; what one did in the past. 

  • Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history. 

  • The image or color over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows). 

  • A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground). 

  • A type of activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user. 

verb
  • To put in a position that is not prominent. 

  • To gather and provide background information (on). 

adj
  • Less important or less noticeable in a scene or system. 

spotlight

noun
  • The center of attention; the highlight or most important part. 

  • A bright, directional light or lamp, especially one used to illuminate the focus or center of attention on a stage. 

  • The circle of light shed by a spotlight. 

verb
  • To illuminate with a spotlight. 

  • Synonym of jacklight (“to use a spotlight in hunting animals”) 

  • To draw attention to. 

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