brass vs mercury

brass

noun
  • A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications. 

  • Fittings, utensils, or other items made of brass 

  • A memorial or sepulchral tablet usually made of brass or latten 

  • A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; the section of an orchestra that features such instruments 

  • The colour of brass. 

  • A brass nail; a prostitute. 

  • Spent shell casings (usually made of brass); the part of the cartridge left over after bullets have been fired. 

  • Inferior composition. 

  • A brave or foolhardy attitude; impudence. 

  • High-ranking officers. 

verb
  • To coat with brass. 

adj
  • Made of brass, of or pertaining to brass. 

  • Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments. 

  • Of the colour of brass. 

  • Impertinent, bold: brazen. 

  • Of inferior composition. 

  • Brass monkey; cold. 

mercury

noun
  • One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals. 

  • Any plant of any species of the genus and the genus Mercurialis. 

  • The poison oak or poison ivy. 

  • An annual plant, annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury. 

  • Ambient pressure or temperature (from the use of mercury in barometers and thermometers). 

  • A silvery-colored, toxic, metallic chemical element, liquid at room temperature, with atomic number 80 and symbol Hg. 

  • A similar edible plant (Blitum bonus-henricus), otherwise known as English mercury or allgood. 

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