clipper vs swab

clipper

noun
  • A tool used for clipping something, such as hair, coins, or fingernails. 

  • Any of several forms of very fast sailing ships having a long, low hull and a sharply raked stem. 

  • An Alberta clipper. 

  • Anything that clips. 

  • A person who mutilates coins by fraudulently paring the edges. 

  • The Asian butterfly Parthenos sylvia, family Nymphalidae. 

  • A circuit which prevents the amplitude of a wave from exceeding a set value. 

  • A confidence trickster; a conman. 

verb
  • To cut or style (the hair) using clippers. 

swab

noun
  • A piece of material used for cleaning or sampling other items like musical instruments or guns. 

  • A sailor; a swabby. 

  • A naval officer's epaulet. 

  • A small piece of soft, absorbent material, such as gauze, used to clean wounds, apply medicine, or take samples of body fluids. Often attached to a stick or wire to aid access. 

  • A mop, especially on a ship. 

  • A sample taken with a swab (piece of absorbent material). 

verb
  • To use a swab on something, or clean something with a swab. 

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