cradle vs creeper

cradle

noun
  • A hand position allowing a contact ball to be held steadily on the back of the hand. 

  • A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the sensitive parts of an injured person. 

  • Infancy, or very early life. 

  • A framework of timbers, or iron bars, moving upon ways or rollers, used to support, lift, or carry ships or other vessels, heavy guns, etc., as up an inclined plane, or across a strip of land, or in launching a ship. 

  • A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous earth. 

  • A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots. 

  • A case for a broken or dislocated limb. 

  • The place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence. 

  • A ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster. 

  • A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the plate, so preparing the ground. 

  • A rest for the receiver of a telephone, or for certain computer hardware. 

  • A mechanical device for tilting and decanting a bottle of wine. 

  • A suspended scaffold used in shafts. 

  • An implement consisting of a broad scythe for cutting grain, with a set of long fingers parallel to the scythe, designed to receive the grain, and to lay it evenly in a swath. 

  • A basket or apparatus in which, when a line has been made fast to a wrecked ship from the shore, the people are brought off from the wreck. 

verb
  • To wrap protectively, to hold gently and protectively. 

  • To lull or quieten, as if by rocking. 

  • To transport a vessel by means of a cradle. 

  • To rock (a baby to sleep). 

  • To contain in or as if in a cradle. 

  • To nurse or train in infancy. 

  • To rock the lacrosse stick back and forth in order to keep the ball in the head by means of centrifugal force. 

  • To put ribs across the back of (a picture), to prevent the panels from warping. 

  • To cut and lay (grain) with a cradle. 

creeper

noun
  • A ball that travels low, near ground level. 

  • A one-piece garment for infants designed to facilitate access to the wearer's diaper. 

  • A small four-hooked grapnel used to recover objects dropped onto the sea bed. 

  • Any device for causing material to move steadily from one part of a machine to another, such as an apron in a carding machine, or an inner spiral in a grain screen. 

  • Any plant (as ivy or periwinkle) that grows by creeping, especially a climbing plant of the genus Parthenocissus. 

  • The lowest gear of a tractor or truck. 

  • A small low iron, or dog, between the andirons. 

  • A person who creeps people out; a creepy person. 

  • A metal plate with spikes, designed to be worn with shoes to prevent slipping. 

  • An instrument with iron hooks or claws for dredging up items from a well or other water. 

  • A person or a thing that crawls or creeps. 

  • A low-profile wheeled platform whereupon an auto mechanic may lie on their back and gain better access to the underbody of a vehicle. 

  • A kind of shoe, usually with a suede upper and a thick crepe sole, associated with various 20th-century subcultures. 

  • A spur-like device strapped to the boot to facilitate climbing. 

  • A device which allows a small child to safely roam around a room from a seated or standing position. 

  • A treecreeper. 

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