burr vs clout

burr

noun
  • burr or ring of iron behind the hand 

  • A uvular "r" sound, or (by extension) an accent characterized by this sound. 

  • And when his body was against the burr of the spear, he took his sword in both his hands and he swung the sword above his head, and he smote King Arthur with the edge of the sword upon the helmet. 

  • A thin flat piece of metal, formed from a sheet by punching; a small washer put on the end of a rivet before it is swaged down. 

  • Many saddles, especially those for use on warhorses, had high burr plates and cantles. this was especially important when knights began using stirrups and the couched lance. 

  • A rough humming sound. 

  • 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia 

  • A metal ring at the top of the hand-rest on a spear. 

  • 2015, James B. Tschen-Emmons, Artifacts from Medieval Europe, page 280 

  • A burr knot or burl. 

  • A sharp, pointy object, such as a sliver or splinter. 

  • 1724, John Guillim, A Display of Heraldry 

  • A revolving disk or cone with abrasive surfaces used to grind hard products in a grinder or mill. 

  • We are made to witness a cathartic shuffling-off of mortalities and of hatreds: Mordred's pulling himself up to the 'burr' of Arthur's spear is Malory's own detail and one of the most memorable in the book. 

  • A bur; a seed pod with sharp features that stick in fur or clothing. 

  • A broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the grip, to prevent the hand from slipping. 

  • The ear lobe. 

  • A small piece of material left on an edge after a cutting operation. 

  • The knot at the bottom of an antler. 

  • The front of it was defended by an iron-plate, called a vam-plat, that is, an avant-plate, and behind it was a broad iron ring, called a burr. 

  • 2003, Thomas Howard Crofts, Fifteenth-century Malory, page 290 

  • 2012, Howard Pyle, The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur 

verb
  • To pronounce with a uvular "r". 

  • To make a rough humming sound. 

clout

noun
  • A clout nail. 

  • The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head. 

  • Influence or effectiveness, especially political. 

  • A home run. 

  • A blow with the hand. 

verb
  • To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage, patch, or mend with a clout. 

  • To stud with nails, as a timber, or a boot sole. 

  • To guard with an iron plate, as an axletree. 

  • To hit, especially with the fist. 

  • To join or patch clumsily. 

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