cull vs scatter

cull

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

  • 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 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. 

scatter

verb
  • To be dispersed upon. 

  • To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse. 

  • Of a pitcher: to keep down the number of hits or walks. 

  • To deflect (radiation or particles). 

  • To occur or fall at widely spaced intervals. 

  • To distribute loosely as by sprinkling. 

  • To frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow. 

noun
  • The act of scattering or dispersing. 

  • A collection of dispersed objects. 

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