blunderbuss vs pistol

blunderbuss

noun
  • An old style of muzzleloading firearm and early form of shotgun with a distinctive short, large caliber barrel that is flared at the muzzle, therefore able to fire scattered quantities of nails, stones, shot, etc. at short range. 

verb
  • To shoot with a blunderbuss. 

pistol

noun
  • A handgun 

  • The mechanical component of a fuse in a bomb or torpedo responsible for firing the detonator. 

  • A small boy who is bright, alert and very active. 

  • A creative and unpredictable jokester, a constant source of entertainment and surprises. 

  • An offensive formation in which the quarterback receives the snap at a distance behind the center, but closer than in a shotgun formation, with a running back lined up behind him. 

verb
  • To shoot (at) a target with a pistol. 

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