boss vs curb

boss

verb
  • To exercise authoritative control over; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly. 

  • To decorate with bosses; to emboss. 

adj
  • Of excellent quality, first-rate. 

noun
  • Wife. 

  • An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress. 

  • A swelling, lump or protuberance in an animal, person or object. 

  • A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield. 

  • A wooden vessel for the mortar used in tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a ladder. 

  • A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault. 

  • A person in charge of a business or company. 

  • A protrusion, frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole. 

  • A lump-like mass of rock, especially one projecting through a stratum of different rock. 

  • A target block, made of foam but historically made of hay bales, to which a target face is attached. 

  • A term of address to a man. 

  • A head or reservoir of water. 

  • A leader, the head of an organized group or team. 

  • A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor. 

  • The head of a political party in a given region or district. 

curb

verb
  • To check, restrain or control. 

  • To rein in. 

  • To bend or curve. 

  • To furnish with a curb, as a well; to restrain by a curb, as a bank of earth. 

  • To crouch; to cringe. 

  • To damage vehicle wheels or tires by running into or over a pavement curb. 

  • To bring to a stop beside a curb. 

noun
  • Something that checks or restrains; a restraint. 

  • A swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness. 

  • A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand) 

  • A riding or driving bit for a horse that has rein action which amplifies the pressure in the mouth by leverage advantage placing pressure on the poll via the crown piece of the bridle and chin groove via a curb chain. 

  • A sidewalk, covered or partially enclosed, bordering the airport terminal road system with adjacent paved areas to permit vehicles to off-load or load passengers. 

  • A raised margin along the edge of something, such as a well or the eye of a dome, as a strengthening. 

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