belt-tightening vs deadening

belt-tightening

noun
  • A reduction in expenditure, often as a result of financial restrictions. 

adj
  • Causing or involving a reduction in expenditure. 

deadening

noun
  • The process by which something is deadened. 

  • A forest clearing created by girdling the trees. 

How often have the words belt-tightening and deadening occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )