clutch vs lever

clutch

noun
  • Any device for gripping an object, as at the end of a chain or tackle. 

  • The claw of a predatory animal or bird. 

  • An important or critical situation. 

  • A brood of chickens or a sitting of eggs. 

  • A device to interrupt power transmission, commonly used to separate the engine and gearbox in a car. 

  • A fastener that attaches to the back of a tack pin to secure an accessory to clothing. (See Clutch (pin fastener).) 

  • A small handbag or purse with no straps or handle. 

  • A group or bunch (of people or things). 

  • A grip, especially one seen as rapacious or evil. 

  • The pedal in a car that disengages power and torque transmission from the engine (through the drivetrain) to the drive wheels. 

  • A difficult maneuver 

verb
  • To unexpectedly or luckily succeed in a difficult activity. 

  • To hatch. 

  • To seize, as though with claws. 

  • To grip or grasp tightly. 

  • To win in a 1vX (one versus X) situation. 

adj
  • Performing or tending to perform well in difficult, high-pressure situations. 

lever

noun
  • A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a button). 

  • A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it. 

  • An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it. 

  • A levee. 

  • A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (the fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and motion. 

  • Specifically, a bar of metal, wood or other rigid substance, used to exert a pressure, or sustain a weight, at one point of its length, by receiving a force or power at a second, and turning at a third on a fixed point called a fulcrum. It is usually named as the first of the six mechanical powers, and is of three kinds, according as either the fulcrum F, the weight W, or the power P, respectively, is situated between the other two, as in the figures. 

verb
  • To use, operate or move (something) like a lever (physically). 

  • To move with a lever. 

  • To increase the share of debt in the capitalization of a business. 

  • To use (something) like a lever (in an abstract sense). 

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