colic vs distress

colic

noun
  • Severe pains that grip the abdomen or the disease that causes such pains (due to intestinal or bowel-related problems). 

  • A medicinal plant used to relieve such symptoms. 

  • Severe fussiness and crying, especially of infants with certain medical conditions. 

adj
  • Relating to the colon; colonic. 

distress

noun
  • A cause of such discomfort. 

  • The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction. 

  • Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. 

  • Serious danger. 

  • A seizing of property without legal process to force payment of a debt. 

  • An aversive state of stress to which a person cannot fully adapt. 

verb
  • To treat a new object to give it an appearance of age. 

  • To retain someone’s property against the payment of a debt; to distrain. 

  • To cause strain or anxiety to someone. 

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