cull vs refuse

cull

verb
  • To select animals from a group and then kill them in order to reduce the numbers of the group in a controlled manner. 

  • To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group). 

  • To kill (animals etc). 

  • To lay off in order to reduce the size of, get rid of. 

  • To gather, collect. 

noun
  • A lobster having only one claw. 

  • A selection. 

  • An individual animal selected to be killed, or item of produce to be discarded. 

  • A piece unfit for inclusion within a larger group; an inferior specimen. 

  • An organised killing of selected animals. 

  • A fool, gullible person; a dupe. 

refuse

verb
  • To decline a request or demand, forbear; to withhold permission. 

  • To melt again. 

  • To decline (a request or demand). 

  • To throw back, or cause to keep back (as the centre, a wing, or a flank), out of the regular alignment when troops are about to engage the enemy. 

noun
  • Collectively, items or material that have been discarded; rubbish, garbage. 

adj
  • Discarded, rejected. 

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