bulge vs burl

bulge

noun
  • Something sticking out from a surface; a swelling, protuberant part; a bending outward, especially when caused by pressure. 

  • The outline of male genitals visible through clothing. 

  • A sudden rise in value or quantity. 

  • The bilge of a vessel. 

  • The bilge or protuberant part of a cask. 

verb
  • To bilge, as a ship; to founder. 

  • To stick out from (a surface). 

burl

noun
  • A knot or lump in thread or cloth. 

  • Wood of a mottled veneer, usually cut from such a growth. 

  • A tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner; a burr knot. 

verb
  • To remove the knots in cloth. 

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