calico vs gauze

calico

noun
  • A kind of rough cloth made from unbleached and not fully processed cotton, often printed with a bright pattern. 

  • The plant disease caused by Tobacco mosaic virus. 

adj
  • Made of calico or resembling the color of calico cloth, having a pattern of red and contrasting areas; variegated. 

gauze

noun
  • A similar bleached cotton fabric used as a surgical dressing. 

  • A thin fabric with a loose, open weave. 

  • Wire gauze, used as fence. 

  • A thin woven metal or plastic mesh. 

  • Mist or haze 

verb
  • To apply a dressing of gauze 

  • To mist; to become gauze-like. 

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