blackball vs invest

blackball

verb
  • To ostracize. 

  • To vote against, especially in an exclusive organization. 

noun
  • A black ball used to indicate such a negative vote. 

  • A rejection; a vote against admitting someone. 

  • A kind of large black sweet; a niggerball. 

  • A game, a standardized version of the English version of eight-ball. 

  • A substance for blacking shoes, boots, etc. or for taking impressions of engraved work. 

invest

verb
  • To lay siege to. 

  • To surround, accompany, or attend. 

  • To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in. 

  • To commit money or capital in the hope of financial gain. 

  • To ceremonially install someone in some office. 

  • To be involved in; to form strong attachments to. 

  • To prepare for lost wax casting by creating an investment mold (a mixture of a silica sand and plaster). 

  • To make investments. 

  • To formally give (someone) some power or authority. 

  • To envelop, wrap, cover. 

  • To formally give (power or authority). 

noun
  • An unnamed tropical weather pattern "to investigate" for development into a significant (named) system. 

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