barb vs breastplate

barb

noun
  • Armor for a horse. 

  • One of the many side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane. 

  • A barbiturate. 

  • A hurtful or disparaging remark. 

  • The sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus, found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. 

  • A blackish or dun variety of pigeon, originally brought from Barbary. 

  • Paps, or little projections, of the mucous membrane, which mark the opening of the submaxillary glands under the tongue in horses and cattle. The name is mostly applied when the barbs are inflamed and swollen. 

  • The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else. 

  • A hair or bristle ending in a double hook. 

  • Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family. 

  • A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it. 

  • A plastic fastener, shaped roughly like a capital I (with serifs), used to attach socks etc. to their packaging. 

  • The Barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from Barbary into Spain by the Moors. 

verb
  • To furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc. 

  • To cut (hair). 

  • To cover a horse in armor. 

breastplate

noun
  • A piece of horse tack designed to prevent the saddle slipping backwards. 

  • A piece of armor that covers the chest. 

  • A piece of silicone in the shape of women's breasts worn by drag queens and other female impersonators to simulate a female body shape. 

  • An embroidered square of linen worn on the breast of the Jewish high priest, bearing twelve precious stones, each inscribed with the name of one of the tribes of Israel. 

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