clew vs sail

clew

noun
  • The sheets so attached to a sail. 

  • Yarn or thread as used to guide one's way through a maze or labyrinth; a guide, a clue. 

  • The cords suspending a hammock. 

  • The lower corner(s) of a sail to which a sheet is attached for trimming the sail (adjusting its position relative to the wind); the metal loop or cringle in the corner of the sail, to which the sheet is attached. (on a triangular sail) The trailing corner relative to the wind direction. 

verb
  • to roll into a ball 

  • (transitive and intransitive) to raise the lower corner(s) of (a sail) 

sail

noun
  • A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes. 

  • Anything resembling a sail, such as a wing. 

  • A tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines. 

  • A sailfish. 

  • The blade of a windmill. 

  • The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport. 

  • The conning tower of a submarine. 

  • The floating organ of siphonophores, such as the Portuguese man-of-war. 

  • an outward projection of the spine, occurring in certain dinosaurs and synapsids 

  • A trip in a boat, especially a sailboat. 

  • The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance. 

verb
  • To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl. 

  • To set sail; to begin a voyage. 

  • To move briskly and gracefully through the air. 

  • To move briskly but sedately. 

  • To deal out (cards) from a distance by impelling them across a surface. 

  • To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power. 

  • To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat. 

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