badger vs beast

badger

verb
  • To pester; to annoy persistently; to press. 

noun
  • Any mammal of three subfamilies, which belong to the family Mustelidae: Melinae (Eurasian badgers), Mellivorinae (ratel or honey badger), and Taxideinae (American badger). 

  • A native or resident of the American state, Wisconsin. 

beast

verb
  • to impose arduous exercises, either as training or as punishment. 

  • to engage in sexual intercourse, particularly in an illicit context 

noun
  • Someone who is particularly impressive, especially athletically or physically. 

  • A monstrously unusual and dangerous animal. 

  • Any animal other than a human; usually only applied to land vertebrates, especially large or dangerous four-footed ones. 

  • Anything regarded as larger or more powerful than one of its normal size or strength. 

  • A person who behaves in a violent, antisocial or uncivilized manner. 

  • A domestic animal, especially a bovine farm animal. 

  • A sex offender. 

  • Something unpleasant and difficult. 

  • A thing or matter, especially a difficult or unruly one. 

adj
  • great; excellent; powerful 

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